


There Will Be Time

by thekatthatbarks



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Hokage!Sakura, Romance, Slow Burn, The warning is for chapter 16, This Was Supposed To Be A One Shot, with an interrogation scene with minor violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 39,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22537636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekatthatbarks/pseuds/thekatthatbarks
Summary: Naruto doesn't want to be Hokage anymore. Tsunade picks Sakura as her successor. Sakura accepts the hat but doesn't know how to accept the praise and confidence sent her way. Everyone believes in her, but is she really cut out for this?
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Hatake Kakashi
Comments: 166
Kudos: 496





	1. Dreams Change

It all started with Naruto telling her he didn’t want to be Hokage.

They’d been leaning against a tree after training, just themselves with Kakashi and Sasuke off on their own missions. Sakura was trying to catch her breath as she took a drink of water – _did Naruto always have to go so hard?_ – when he turned to her with a grin. “Hey, Sakura, I’ve decided something.”

She didn’t think anything of it, guessing he was going to suggest something for lunch. But then he told her with a big breath. “I don’t want to be Hokage.”

Sakura almost chocked on her water and her head whipped to him as she coughed. “ _What_?”

But he wasn’t looking at her, his eyes on the clouds above him with a content smile on his face. “I think… it wasn’t really that I wanted to be Hokage. I had just wanted to prove myself.” He glanced down at the water bottle in his hand, his fingers playing with the label. “I just wanted to be accepted and I thought that if I was the strongest shinobi – if I was Hokage, then people would.”

“Naruto.” Sakura started but didn’t even know what to say, she was in such shock. Of course, she knew all this. She’d known Naruto over twenty years. She knew his reasoning for wanting to be Hokage. But he had never hinted at having doubts about being Hokage.

“I think” – Naruto’s voice was softer than before, but it hadn’t lost any conviction to it – “that people have accepted me as more than a jinchuriki. That they see me for _me_.” He shrugged and then looked at her. “Even if they don’t, I don’t care, I guess? I mean they’ve seen who I am and if they still don’t like me… I don’t care.” He smiled. “As long as you guys – the people I care about, still like me, I think I’m good.”

Sakura felt herself smile with him. “We like you very much, Naruto, and it has nothing to do with how strong you are.”

Naruto’s face softened and he nodded. “See? That’s what I mean.”

Sakura chuckled, feeling oddly emotional. “I’m proud of you, you know.”

Naruto smiled and leaned against her shoulder, spreading out his legs on the grass. “I’m proud of you, too, Sakura-chan.”

They sat in a comfortable silence as their thoughts ran through their minds. Naruto felt lighter next to her and strangely Sakura did too.

***

Sakura outright laughed, feeling her heart rate pick up. “You have _got_ to be kidding me.”

Tsunade glared at her and waved a well-manicured hand. “I am _not_ kidding with you, Sakura. Stop acting ridiculous.”

Sakura held her hands up, another humorless laugh escaping her. “Wait, wait, wait. So, you’re telling me that since _Naruto_ doesn’t want to be Hokage anymore, you want _me_ to be Hokage? _Hokage_? Shishou, are you _drunk_?”

Tsunade sighed and started rubbing at her temples. “Sakura, calm down.”

“No.” Sakura pointed a finger at her, anger climbing up her spine – she didn’t even know _why_ she was so upset, but she _was_. “I have _never_ wanted to be Hokage. That was always Naruto’s dream. You can’t just _ask_ me to do that!”

“Naruto doesn’t _want_ to be Hokage anymore! You’re not taking anything away from him by accepting this!” Tsunade snapped at her. Shizune frowned from the side, watching the scene play out anxiously but not offering her own opinion.

Sakura leaned forward and put her hands on the desk. “Why are you asking _me_ to do this? I know I am your apprentice and I do believe I am more than capable. But there are _better_ candidates than me. Shikamaru, Kakashi, even – “

“You. It needs to be _you_ ,” Tsunade interrupted her and met her eyes seriously. “Sakura, I have thought about this. I have brought it up with other people. It has been agreed that _you_ are the best candidate for this.”

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from her, her jaw clenched. “I don’t want –“

“I didn’t want it either,” Tsunade admitted quietly and as the words left her mouth, her expression changed, and she chuckled. She shook her head and looked up at her after a bout of tense silence. “I won’t force you to accept it. I won’t do that to you.”

Sakura felt her anger calm down the longer she looked at Tsunade’s smile. She asked her softly, “Why do you want me to be Hokage, shishou?”

Tsunade shrugged and her voice sounded thick as she answered, her smile still on her face. “Because I think you’d be a _great_ Hokage.”

***

Sakura almost sent a shadow clone to her inauguration. But there would be no point because all the feelings would just come back to her once the clone disappeared. Also, Tsunade would _probably_ kill her if she found out.

The crowd was happy for her. She was well-loved by the village and she had expected as much. But she couldn’t help but feel this underlying confusion of why _Naruto_ wasn’t wearing the hat. No one outright said it to her, but she kept waiting for the inevitable. She wouldn’t even know how to answer if someone did.

Sakura would’ve done anything to escape from the festivities and go to her apartment, but she _was_ the woman of the hour. A _few_ people might notice if their Hokage suddenly slipped away.

_Their Hokage_.

Sakura looked down at the sake in her cup as the thought crossed her mind. She sighed. _She really was doing this, wasn’t she?_

“Deep thoughts?” A voice came beside her and Sakura relaxed recognizing it as Kakashi’s. She turned to him, still leaning against the wall – though she was nothing but a wallflower, decked out in her robes and large hat. She knew she could take it off, let it hang from her back. But then her face wouldn’t be as concealed, and the village didn’t need to see their Hokage looking so _anxious_ on her inauguration.

She shrugged, offering a small smile then looking back to her drink. “A little.”

Kakashi chuckled and leaned next to her, telling her in a low voice so no one else could hear, “You look like you’d rather be anywhere else.”

Sakura plastered a wide smile on her face, her heart aching. “Better?”

Kakashi gave her a smile that was almost sad. “Yes.”

Sakura let the smile dim, focusing on Kakashi standing next to her as she took a drink. “I’m still trying to figure out how to feel about it.”

Kakashi sighed, his eyes looking out at the crowd that was dancing to the festive music. “I think that’s more than understandable.” He glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. “Though I had hoped you would’ve thought about it more before accepting.”

Sakura chose to not comment on how Kakashi was probably one of the ones to give her a vote of confidence. She knew it was because he had faith in her, was _proud_ of her. The tightness in her chest eased at the confirmation. “I did think about it. I have… my reasons for accepting. I just don’t know how to articulate them. Maybe I don’t even understand them myself.”

“ _Kakashi_!”

They looked out to the crowd to see Gai donned in green and waving an arm excitedly. Kakashi rolled his eyes beside her but they weren’t anything except fond. He looked to her as he leaned off the wall. He told her in a quiet but strong voice. “Well, if it means anything, I’m _proud_ of you and I think you’ll figure it out in your own time. I know you’ll do great things as our leader, _Sakura-sama_.” He sent her a wink before turning into the fray.

Sakura stared after him, her eyes a little wide. She didn’t know what it was. Maybe the way he’d said it, his eyes, or the tone in his voice. But she felt something push her off the wall, her smile feeling less forced.

_Sakura-sama._

Sakura swallowed down the rest of her drink before moving into the crowd to mingle with the people who had been sending her excited looks all night.


	2. Buying Groceries with Mama

“You’ve been awfully quiet today,” Tsunade commented next to her at her desk as she moved papers to another stack. Sakura had basically been shadowing her the last week though she was technically already Hokage. Tsunade liked to say it was a nice perk for not having to succeed someone who had been killed in action. She said it as a joke, humor in her eyes, but it left something churning in Sakura’s stomach. She didn’t want to think about Tsunade returning to her travels, let alone _dying_.

Sakura offered her a smile. “Just trying to keep everything in my head.”

Tsunade was quiet and Sakura could feel her eyes on her as Sakura picked up another document to read over. She sighed. “Sakura, I told you not to take the hat if you didn’t want to.”

Sakura looked to her, said hat dangling from her robes. “I can’t put it into words, shishou. But I didn’t take this because you forced me to.”

“Did you take it because I asked you to?” Tsunade asked, her eyes serious. Worry etched into her face at the thought of Sakura doing this _for_ her.

“No,” Sakura told her with certainty, thankful she could say it with confidence. A part of her _had_ been worried she’d said yes for Tsunade, but she didn’t think that was the case.

Tsunade relaxed at the answer and told her comfortingly, “I know it’s a lot to take in, Sakura. Try and not to feel too intimidated by it. Every Hokage’s first year is pretty rough.”

Sakura felt herself laugh and replied in a sarcastic voice, “Thank you for the comfort.”

“Brat.” Tsunade rolled her eyes and shoved her shoulder with a chuckle.

They went back to work, Tsunade trying to show her all the ropes she would have to start pulling. It _was_ a lot, but Sakura felt a little lighter. The nerves she felt every time someone came in didn’t shake off though.

***

Sakura felt more on her feet after a month, more like she was on solid ground as she walked in her robes down the street. She was still nervous at times; her heart racing as she made any big decision that would affect the village. But Sakura had worked on her confidence all her life and she repeated like a mantra in her head “ _I know what I’m doing_ ”. It helped sometimes, others it didn’t.

Sakura sighed as she read over the same letter the third time. It wasn’t making _any_ sense. Did they write it like that on _purpose_? Or was all her intelligence a lie and she’s been stupid her entire life?

She let the paper fall out of her hands and to the desk, her hands coming up to hold her head. She’d forgone the robes and hat today and let them hang on a rack in the corner of her office. But she could still feel the weight of them on her back.

A breath later and she felt a presence at her side. She didn’t need to look up to know it was Sasuke. “Yes, Snake?”

“Hokage-sama, perhaps you should take a break.” His polite voice slightly muffled through the porcelain mask. “ _Before_ you throw your desk through the window.”

_Now that sounds more like Sasuke._

Sakura snorted. “I’m not my master. I can control my temper.”

It was Sasuke’s turn to snort. “Of course, Hokage-sama.”

Sakura chuckled and looked up at him with a smile. He turned his face to her, and she imagined the smirk behind the mask. She hadn’t known how to feel about Sasuke being assigned to her guard unit but decided she didn’t mind it. She still thought Sasuke had more potential than being a _bodyguard_. But it was nice to have a friend nearby even though they rarely spoke as Sasuke’s _job_ was to hide in the shadows.

After Sakura had let go of her feelings for him – _they had already become so confusing by the war, it wasn’t that difficult_ – they became friends. She didn’t know if it was because she wasn’t seeing him just as her romantic love or if it was Sasuke giving her a chance to know him once she stopped fawning after him. But it had made them closer and Sakura didn’t feel any remorse for her childhood crush.

The door opened and Sakura’s head turned towards it. She didn’t have to check to know Sasuke had disappeared from sight. She smiled when she saw the shock of blonde hair.

Naruto peeked his head in, a grin on his lips. “You busy, Sakura- _sama_?”

Sakura rolled her eyes at him and waved a hand inviting him in. “Naruto, I told you that you don’t have to add sama to my name. I’ve known you since I was _five_.”

But Naruto only widened his smile as he flopped down in one of the chairs in front of her. “And I told _you_ , that I’m gong to keep doing it.” He shrugged and then added, “At least when you’re _on-duty_.”

“A Hokage is always on duty.” Sakura glanced down at the letter on the table.

Naruto sighed. “You know what I mean.”

Sakura looked up to see his soft smile and felt her shoulders relax. “ _Someone_ suggested I take a break. Do you want to grab lunch?”

Naruto nodded, shooting the corner a smile. Sakura had told him to stop acknowledging the ANBU her first week, knowing it probably made some of them nervous that they could be spotted or sensed. But Naruto never listening to her and she supposed the ANBU shouldn’t be too surprised at how skilled the war hero was.

Sakura walked past the coat rack but before she could reach the door, Naruto gave her a knowing look. She sighed and grabbed the robes and hat before walking out with him. The sound of her hat softly hitting her back filled the busy halls and people turned to nod to her as she walked. _She still hadn’t gotten quite used to that, the easy respect._

Naruto chattered on to her about his latest mission and Sakura fought back the inch of jealousy she felt. She didn’t tell him she’d read the mission report, because of course he knew. There was also nothing like hearing it from his mouth, the _story_ outside the details. Sakura supposed if she had to have missions vicariously through stories, she would get the best from Naruto. He was dramatic as he spoke with a colorful voice and hand gestures, but never strayed from the truth or heart of the story.

She had been nervous about Naruto’s reaction the most. He’d only told her his decision about being Hokage days before Tsunade offered it to her. He was the only person she’d told before accepting it, needing his blessing before even deciding herself. If he’d had any doubt in his face that day, she would’ve rejected it. But he’d been nothing but happy for her. More proud and excited than anyone has been. He’d told her he believed in her and if she wanted it, he’d _support her with all his heart_. Sakura had managed to keep her tears in until she got home that night – _barely_. She didn’t know if it was out of relief or an overwhelming love for her best friend. Either way, she knew he was one of the final things that pushed her to say yes when her confidence was wearing thin.

Sakura bumped her shoulder with his as they sat down at Ichiraku’s – _because even after a war, some things never change._ “You know, I think you would actually hate being Hokage. There is way too much paperwork.” She teased him, “I think all your antsy energy wouldn’t be able to handle sitting at a desk all day.”

Naruto chuckled as he broke his chopsticks. “Probably not.” He nodded at her. “You’re good at it, though.”

Sakura shrugged and looked down at the menu she didn’t even need. Naruto pinched her arm not a second later. She glared at him and punched him in the arm. “What the hell?”

“Don’t do that, Sakura-chan.” Naruto gave her a serious look, not even bothering to playfully wince in pain. “Don’t shrug that off. You _are_ a good Hokage.”

Sakura looked away from him, her chest having that familiar ache. She shook her head. “Naruto, I’ve only been in office a couple of months.”

“I can tell.” She glanced at him in surprise, hearing the strength in his voice. He had a reassuring smile on his face. “We can all tell. You’re going to be an _awesome_ Hokage.”

Sakura felt herself blush at the praise, Tsunade’s words echoing in her head. She didn’t reply right away, thoughts swirling behind her eyes. Ayamae placed a bowl in front of her and Sakura let out a deep breath. She turned to Naruto and tried for a smile. “I’m going to try.”

As they were walking back to the Tower, a small body attacked her legs. Sakura looked down in surprise to see a little boy hugging her with a toothy smile. “Hokage-sama!”

Sakura hesitantly reached a hand down to pat his hair. Then, his mother was tugging him off her with an embarrassed smile. “I’m sorry, Hokage-sama.”

Sakura shook her head, her cheeks a rosy color. She smiled and knelt to meet the little boy’s eyes. _He couldn’t be more than six._ “Now, what’s your name?”

“Tachibana Ichigo!” He exclaimed with a wide grin. He reminded her of someone else she knew.

Sakura fought back a laugh and raised an eyebrow. “What’re you up to today, Ichigo-kun?”

He glanced at his mother hovering near his shoulder and then back to her. “Buying groceries with my Mama.”

Sakura gave him a smile. “That sounds like fun.”

He nodded and she stood up. “Well, I have to get back to my office, Ichigo-kun.” She ruffled his hair, her heart melting at his shy smile. “I’ll have to talk to you more later.”

Sakura nodded to his mother. “Have a good day shopping, Tachibana-san.”

Before she could step away, the woman called out tentatively to her. “Um, Hokage-sama?”

Sakura turned back to her to see a nervous smile. Tachibana tucked her hair behind her ear. “Ichigo was excited to meet you because of what his father has told him about you.”

Sakura looked at her curiously. “His father?”

She nodded. “His name is Rei. I’m not sure if you’d remember him. But during the war, you saved his life.” Sakura couldn’t remember a Rei and tried to not feel guilty about it. She’d tended to so many of the wounded, faces had started to blur by the end of. _Though there was something about the eyes, she almost always remembered someone’s eyes._ “He was able to come home to us because of you.”

Sakura felt uncomfortable accepting the thanks, though she had been told similar things since the war on multiple occasions. She hadn’t become a medic for gratitude or anything in the slightest. She had wanted to _help_ , to mend people back together with her hands. She never knew how to respond in these kinds of conversations.

Her nervousness only increased as Tachibana bowed her head, her hand gently guiding her son to do the same. “Thank you so much, Sakura-sama.”

There was a lump in her throat as Tachibana raised her head with a smile. “We were very happy to hear you were our new Hokage.”

Naruto subtly poked her in the back – _she had almost forgotten he was there, a quiet bystander for once_ – and she finally responded, “Thank you.”

They nodded and stepped away from her. Sakura felt herself choke out, “I hope Rei is doing well.”

Tachibana looked over her shoulder at her with a sincere smile. “He is, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura nodded with a small smile and then her and Naruto turned back their way to the Tower. Naruto only waited a moment before crossing his arms behind his head and singing at her with a grin, “I _told_ you so.”

Sakura blushed and shoved him. “Shut up.” 


	3. Help Out

“Sakura-sama, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

Sakura sighed and waved a hand at her desk. “I have already finished my goal for the day, a _dent_ in this paperwork. But everything needing immediate attention has been handled.”

Misaki leveled a look at her. “I _meant_ that it is not a good idea, because you have _already_ overworked yourself. You need to rest.”

Sakura shook her head at her as she stood up from the desk. She _did_ feel tired – she always felt tired, but she was adjusting – but she also felt full of energy. _How did that make any sense?_ She didn’t know, but she wasn’t going to question it too much. “Misaki-san, I am going to the hospital.”

Misaki sighed but didn’t continue the argument. She had won a few with Sakura since she’d been hired on, but also learned when she didn’t have a fighting chance. Sakura had been unsure about her at first. She was young – _not that Sakura had much on her; she was the second youngest Hokage, the Fourth beating her only by a couple years_ – and hadn’t seemed like the type to flourish in a political setting. She hadn’t been on many missions since the war and had been working mainly in the Archives. She’d been so polite and soft spoken when Sakura first met her, but she quickly learned Nagoya Misaki had a bite to her.

She should’ve expected it when she was told she was friends with Shikamaru. Despite what he liked to say about wanting a calm life, the man didn’t surround himself with dull personalities. Sakura had taken a chance on her on Shikamaru’s recommendation and hadn’t regretted it. The only other person she would’ve wanted was Shikamaru himself, but she hadn’t dared to ask. She knew he had mainly wanted to be advisor under Naruto. Plus, he seemed happy as Jounin Commander.

As Sakura reached the door, Misaki gave her a tired smile. “At least, don’t stay there too long.”

“I’ll take care of myself, Misaki.” Sakura smiled back before leaving the office.

Sakura shouldn’t have felt anxious walking into the hospital – _she used to run it_ – but she did. Her excitement clouded most of it though as she walked up to the front desk. She smiled as the desk nurse looked at her in surprise. “Sakura-sama?”

Sakura fought back the reply, “Just Sakura”, and asked instead, “Is Usui-san available?”

The medic reached out for a clipboard and her eyes scanned it quickly. “He should be in his office. He doesn’t have an appointment for fifteen more minutes.”

Sakura gave her thanks and walked through the doors of the hospital wing. As she walked to Usui’s office, some of the medics smiled at her. It felt different from some of the smiles she got in the Tower, because these people _knew_ her, and they had liked her before she was Hokage. She pushed down the thought as it passed. _They’ll get to know her too, she needed to give it time._

Usui sat at his desk, his hair its usual mess as he chugged down a coffee. Sakura chuckled at the familiar sight and he looked up at the sound. “Sakura-sensei?” He cleared his throat and corrected himself, “Sakura-sama.”

Sakura shook her head. “Now, if anyone can drop the honorific, it’s my student.”

Usui rolled his eyes at her but had a smile on his face. “I’ll get used to it eventually, sensei.”

Usui had been Sakura’s first and only student. She had decided to not take on a genin team like some of her other friends but did take on an apprentice. He’d been as much of a mess as his hair. Clumsy with notes scattered all over the place. Sakura remembered he used to walk around with ink on his arms to _help him remember his studying_. But he had been the _best_ student and had taken over as director after she left.

Sakura leaned against the doorway. “I wanted to see where I could help out.”

Usui raised an eyebrow at her. “Help out?”

Sakura shrugged. “Well, you can always use an extra pair of hands, can’t you?”

“Sakura-sensei, I don’t want you to wear yourself out.” Usui sighed, his eyes meeting hers.

“I already promised my advisor I wouldn’t stay long.”

Usui was quiet as he stared at her thinking and then eventually shrugged. “Get your scrubs on then, Sakura-sama. Go ask Akiko where you can fill in. She’s been covering someone who called in sick.”

Sakura grinned and stepped over to Usui to ruffle his hair before walking out. She called over her shoulder, “Thank you, Usui-kun!”

Sakura didn’t know if it was the lack of robes or that she mainly had civilian patients, but more than a few didn’t recognize her as the Hokage. It was a comfort in a way, as some of the shinobi couldn’t get over their Hokage treating them in the hospital. But as she left the hospital that night, it nagged at her. Something about it didn’t feel right and it had nothing to do with vanity.

As she walked out of the hospital, she felt someone to her right and looked over to see Kakashi leaning against the wall. She raised an eyebrow at him as he smiled at her. “Kakashi? Were you waiting for me?”

He nodded and stepped towards her. “A little birdie told me you might be working yourself into the ground.”

He walked with her as she raised an eyebrow at him. “And this birdie seemed to think you can talk some sense into me?”

He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “I’ve no idea why. Have you ever actually listened to something I said?”

Sakura smiled with a shrug. “Maybe. It’s been a while though.”

“Mmm.” Where his arms brushed hers felt warm in the cold night air. Sakura found it oddly comforting and couldn’t help but lean closer to him as they walked. “Well, I hadn’t thought too much of it at first. Thinking they were overexaggerating. But I did just watch you walk off an evening shift at the hospital, _Hokage-sama_.”

“It felt _good_.” Sakura looked up at the sky, the stars scattered in random patterns. “I enjoy being Hokage, Kakashi. I _do_. It… _means_ something to me. But there’s this constant feeling that it’s not enough, which sounds _ridiculous_. But it’s true and I just missed helping with my _hands_ , talking to people for longer than it takes them to give me a mission report. A Hokage should _interact_ with the people they’re governing over.” 

Kakashi listened to her quietly and then chuckled. “I suppose I should’ve expected you to want to change things up a bit. Neither you nor Naruto are very idle people.” He looked over and met her eyes, his voice going soft. “But I don’t want you to overwork yourself trying to do more than you can.”

Sakura smiled, her feet pausing in their walk. “I won’t, Kakashi.”

He nodded and then looked up at the building they stopped at. He cocked an eyebrow at her, amusement in his eyes. “You kept your apartment?”

“I didn’t want to move into the Hokage residence. I sleep there sometimes but I’m not letting go of my apartment.” Sakura shrugged and gave him a small smile. “I don’t want being Hokage to envelope me. I’d still like to have a personal life.”

“I could understand that.”

Sakura smiled and took a step towards the building. “Well, as you subtly pointed out earlier, I need some rest. I’ll see you around, Kakashi.”

“Goodnight, Sakura-chan.” He smiled at her and then walked away from her. Sakura climbed the steps to her apartment, thinking about how much she loved when Kakashi’s smile reached his eyes.


	4. The Village in Our Hearts

“Misaki-san, schedule a meeting with the council,” Sakura told her as soon as she arrived in her office the following morning. Misaki nodded before leaving the room as quickly as she had entered. Sakura felt guilty as soon as she realized she hadn’t even managed a _good morning_ before giving out an order. She’ll have to treat Misaki to lunch to make up for it.

Misaki came back moments later with a meeting scheduled after lunch. Sakura thanked her and then cleared her throat. “Snake?”

Sasuke instantly appeared at her shoulder and bowed his head. “Yes, Hokage-sama?”

Sakura looked up at him and simply raised an eyebrow. She wouldn’t voice the question out loud but Sasuke could read it in her face. He only shook his head the slightest inch and Sakura could hear the unspoken _I’ll behave_. She nodded and waved her hand, dismissing him. She didn’t mind switching Sasuke out with another ANBU member for the following shift – _they worked in four shifts, a squad of 3 constantly guarding her; she had 12 guards in total_ – but if Sasuke thought he could handle it, she wouldn’t doubt him.

After her and Misaki came back from lunch – _Misaki hadn’t even been offended earlier, but Sakura insisted on taking her to her favorite restaurant_ – the elders arrived a few moments later.

Sakura nodded to them as the sat down in the chairs across from her. They didn’t have the fondest opinions of her – _she assumed it was because of her association with Tsunade and Sasuke_ – and she felt like she always had to prepare herself for meetings with them. She’d learned they hadn’t outgrown their sneaky habits in the slightest, hiding true intentions behind polite smiles and craftly worded sentences. On days like this, her robes and hat comforted her as they laid protectively against her.

“Thank you for joining me, Mitokado-san, Utatane-san.” Sakura crossed her arms over her desk as she smiled at them, veiled by her hat.

“Of course, Sakura-sama. We are always available for your advisement.” Utatane smiled at her, her face almost grandmotherly. Sakura didn’t trust it one bit.

“You are not necessarily here for advisement today, elders.” Sakura nodded to Misaki beside her and Misaki grabbed papers from her clip board. She handed each of them a set.

Sakura gestured to the papers as the elders took them. “I have written up a draft for a proposal of a new council.”

Both of their eyes left the paper and shot up to meet hers, their lips parting. Mitokado was the first to speak. “Hokage-sama, if this is a way to push us out – “

“Not in the slightest.” Sakura gave them a sweet smile. “If you read through the proposal, you will understand why I think this is in the best interest of the village.”

Mitokado huffed, his eyes going back to the paper and scanning through it. There were almost ten pages, so there was no way he could read it right in front of her. Sakura continued, “I want a council that unites the village more. With only two people, there are not many voices for me to hear.”

Utatane spoke up, “Sakura-sama, we have _always_ had the best interest of the village in our hearts.”

Sakura felt the air change over her shoulder, hatred that was thickening around someone and leaking out into the room. She let it roll off her, trusting him to keep his cool.

Sakura nodded. “Even so, Utatane-san, that is not what this is about.”

“You want a civilian councilman elected?” Mitokado asked for clarification as he turned a page. Utatane instantly looked over and tried to find the section in her copy.

“Yes. Right now, the council consist of two opinions – _personal_ opinions. There is no one, outside of me, who speaks for the civilians in our village. Which I think is hardly fair considering I am a shinobi first and foremost. I know nothing of the troubles or concerns of civilians.”

“This is a _shinobi_ village.” Sakura was surprised at the anger in Utatane’s eyes. It made her wonder if a past Hokage had brought this up before. She fought back a smirk and kept her smile calm and polite.

“I am well aware of that.” Sakura turned in her chair and stood up. She walked over to the window and looked down into the street. “But let me ask you something, elders. When you walk down the street, do you not see civilians? How many civilians do you think you see a day? Do you believe _shinobi_ are producing the vegetables you buy? Or are running the stores you buy your clothing from? Who do you imagine request and pay for the missions that feed out shinobi?” 

Utatane spluttered and Sakura tried to not find too much satisfaction in it – _she failed_. “Hokage-sama –“

Sakura talked over her. “There is no _voice_ for our civilians, the same very people we protect. I do not have civilians coming to me with their concerns. I do not think they know that they can, or at least they don’t feel comfortable to. I want to give them someone that can be that for them. Someone _they_ choose. That person will be a part of our council and convene with me about the troubles of our people.”

She looked back to them to see them thinking it over. Their jaws were locked and their eyes hard as they looked down at their papers. Sakura didn’t even think they were reading it anymore. She did believe they cared about the village, even though she – _and others_ – may disagree with their opinions.

Sakura walked back to her desk and sat down. “I have not said that you will be dismissed from the council. So, I am wondering why this upsets you. I cannot see any drawbacks from this upcoming change of government.” Sakura raised an eyebrow at them when they looked up at her. “Do you believe you have a monopoly over me?”

Mitokado cleared his throat as they both shook their head. “Of course not, Hokage-sama.”

Sakura didn’t break eye contact as he shifted in his seat. She sighed and looked down at her own copy. She wasn’t sure if that was a lie or not, but she wouldn’t be surprised. “I would not have been chosen as Hokage if I was a fool, elders.” She looked back to them. “I believe you need to have more faith in your Hokage. I think that this upsets you because you are concerned your voices will not be loud enough if you disagree with me on something.”

Sakura did not ask them to confirm it and they did not offer up any denial.

Utatane coughed and flipped through her pages, looking for something. She asked, “Who else will be on this council, Hokage-sama?”

Sakura leaned back in her chair as she regarded them. “The Jounin Commander, Intelligence Division Head, Medical Director, ANBU Director, and the Academy Director. I could not think of anyone else that would be beneficial. If you have anyone else to include, I am all ears. We can also add people as necessary. I do not want it to become crowded, though.”

They at least gave it thought, before answering. Utatane looking off to the side and Mitokado tilting his head as he scratched at his beard. “No, Sakura-sama,” Utatane eventually answered and Mitokado shook his head.

Sakura nodded. “Then, please look over the drafts carefully and make any notations you’d like. I will review it before finalizing it and releasing it to the public. The new council will officially meet in two weeks to discuss how to help the civilians select candidates and how that process will continue.”

They both nodded in agreement and stood up, recognizing her unsaid dismissal. “If that is all, Hokage-sama?” Mitokado looked to her, a polite smile on his face.

“You are dismissed, elders. Thank you for your time.” Sakura smiled to each of them and then looked down to her desk, effectively ending their visit.

After the soft click of the door behind them, Sakura sighed and took off her hat, laying it gently on her desk. Sakura knew what she was doing was right and she was excited about it. But it didn’t mean the whole process wasn’t stressing her out. She felt incredibly tired and looked to Misaki as the woman hovered near her own desk. “Misaki-san, would you mind getting some tea for me?”

Misaki smiled at her and placed her clipboard on her desk. “Of course not, Sakura-sama. I was craving some anyway.”

“Thank you, Misaki-san.” Sakura leaned back in her chair and placed her feet up on the desk. Misaki would scold her for it once she came back, but Sakura believed since it was _her_ desk, she could do what she wanted. 

When she came back, Misaki only rolled her eyes at her. Sakura stuck her tongue out at her childishly, making them both laugh softly as Misaki handed her the tea.

***

Sakura had barely moved except to drink from her mug – which Misaki kept kindly refiling – so when Kakashi came in an hour later, he chuckled. “Finally taking a break, Sakura-sama?”

Sakura smiled at hearing his voice. There was something about seeing him that never failed to relax something in her chest. “Someone told me they didn’t want me to over work myself, so here we are.”

He stopped in front of her desk and shrugged. “Oh, I’m sure you’re working even as you sit there, planning things out in your head.”

Sakura chuckled. “I might be.”

He sighed and shook his head at her, making her smile. He leaned his hip against the desk and asked, “Are you almost done for the day?”

Sakura glanced at Misaki at her desk, who looked up from the scroll she was reading. She pointed a finger at her and threatened, “Sakura-sama, if I have to run you out of here again – “

Sakura uncrossed her ankles and stood up from her desk. “I think so, Kakashi.”

Kakashi chuckled and walked out with her. She turned to him as they went down the hall. “What did you stop by for?”

“Do you want to have dinner with me?” Kakashi looked at her, his eyes warm with a small smile on his lips.

“Sure,” Sakura easily agreed with a smile of her own. “Any particular reason why?”

He shrugged and looked away from her. “Mah, maybe I just miss you.”

Sakura chuckled, feeling oddly shy and told him, “Maybe I miss you, too, Kakashi.”

***

“Sakura-sama, you seem in a good mood today,” Misaki commented with a sly chuckle from her desk half past nine.

Sakura cleared her throat, her pen pausing as it flew across a page. “I don’t know what you mean, Misaki-san.”

Misaki rolled her eyes. “You’ve been humming all morning.”

Sakura shrugged, feeling herself blush and wishing that she was wearing her hat so it could cover her cheeks. “Guess I’m just in a good mood then.”

“Mhm, _okay_.”

Sakura went back to work, forcing herself to focus more on the paper in front of her. She didn’t know why he was stuck in her mind, walking around like he owned the place. It was just _Kakashi_.

But he had felt different last night, and she couldn’t put her finger on why. Sure, they had gone out dozens of times before, but it had felt _different_. _He_ had felt different. It wasn’t in a _bad_ way. There was something warmer in his eyes, his smile softer. Maybe he’d just been in a good mood. Maybe he _had_ simply missed her and was happy to spend some time with her. _Maybe he had always looked at her that way?_

_Maybe she had just been happy to finally spend some time not talking about politics…_

Sakura didn’t know and pushed the thought of a hidden dimpled smile to the side as someone walked through her office doors.


	5. An Empty Field

Sakura slipped away in the middle of the day without telling anyone. But considering how withdrawn she’d been, she didn’t think anyone would be too curious about it. She was sure Misaki could find her if she truly wanted to. She didn’t even bother to try and lose her ANBU. Sasuke was on the current shift, so there wouldn’t be any point in trying anyway.

She felt like Kakashi as she concealed herself in a tree near the academy, robes and hat forgotten at her office. Maybe it was why he found her so easily. She wondered how he’d even known to look. Or maybe it was just her luck that he’d been walking by and spotted her. Either way, he landed beside her with a soft thud, the branch barely moving from his weight.

“Do you want to be alone?” He asked her in a quiet voice.

_Obviously, or she wouldn’t be hiding out in a tree._ But Kakashi wasn’t just anybody and she tried for a smile as she looked up at him. “I’m never alone.”

He took it as an invitation and sat beside her. Sakura felt like a child with her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. She didn’t cry, though. There was this heavy weight in her chest, and she felt like she couldn’t shed any tears until it dropped to her stomach.

She could see some of the academy students from her perch – mainly why she had chosen this tree – as they played in the yard. It eased her pain at the same time it worsened it. It was a double-edged sword and Sakura started to wonder if she was a masochist.

She didn’t know how long they say there in silence. But it wasn’t until she was staring at an empty field, that she finally spoke, “A team came back today. A jounin team that are specialized in retrieval.”

She could feel Kakashi’s eyes on her, but he didn’t comment, and she continued, “I’d sent them to find a team that was two weeks late from their mission. They confirmed that they had been killed in action.”

Her voice felt thick and it was probably because she’d barely spoken since informing families that morning. The wind picked up and pink started to cloud her vision as her hair danced around. Kakashi leaned his arm against hers and she didn’t know why the small touch broke her. But it did and the weight dropped.

“They were genin,” she choked out and buried her face in her knees. Hot tears burned at the corner of her eyes, a few spilling over. She appreciated how he didn’t push; he didn’t comfort her, and he didn’t touch her more than outside of his arm pressing against hers.

_It wasn’t about her._

“I can’t imagine how difficult that must feel as a Hokage. But you know that _you_ didn’t fail them, right, Sakura-chan?” His voice was as soft as it was sure.

Sakura swallowed and picked her head up, her eyes going back to the academy. “Not completely, but I did in a way. I have to… do better. I _will_ do better.”

Kakashi sighed next to her, moving his head so her eyes met his. “How’re you going to do that?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, then looked at him with determination, “But I’m going to _try_.”

His eyes searched hers – _she didn’t know for what_ – and then he smiled, chuckling softly. He held out a hand to her as he stood up. “I believe you will.”

Sakura placed her hand in his, her heart skipping a beat as he gripped around her fingers and pulled her to her feet. He tentatively reached out a finger and wiped a way a tear from under her eye. Sakura couldn’t take her eyes off his face as the soft pad of his thumb stroked against her skin. He smiled at her after, dropping her hand. “Well, let’s get you back to your office, Sakura-sama.” 

Sakura let out a soft laugh, hoping he’d blame the pink in her cheeks on her crying, and nodded. “Okay, Kakashi.”

***

Sakura almost debated apologizing to the newest member of the council for the chaos she was about to ensure. She was a sweet woman named Ayuzawa Haruhi who owned a dress shop in the northern part of the village. Sakura didn’t misjudge her though. Anyone who was willing to go into a council room full of the most influential shinobi in the village had some backbone to them.

After welcoming Ayuzawa into the fray, Sakura ran through the agenda for the meeting before beginning discussions. She noticed some curious looks about the simple “Genin” bullet point, but no one commented on it. Sakura made sure to leave it for the last talking point, knowing it would affect the whole meeting and she didn’t want the other topics to get pushed aside.

“Now to our last agenda item, I would like to discuss genin.” She looked at Iruka first, who already had his eyes on her. “Iruka-sensei, this will be impacting you the most so I would like to hear your opinion before I open it to the room for discussion.”

He nodded and she looked around the table to see other nods, an agreement the others would keep their opinions to themselves until asked. Her heart throbbed nervously in her stomach, but she also felt excited as she started, “I’m sure we can all agree that with a war just finishing, the shinobi world is the most peaceful it has been in a long time.”

There were some nods around the room along with content smiles. Sakura made sure to keep her eyes on Iruka with her next sentence. “With that into consideration, I want to put an age requirement on genin.” Iruka gave her the slightest nod and she continued, “I want it to be eighteen.”

Audible gasps filled the room, but Sakura didn’t look away from Iruka, crossing her arms over the table. “This would primarily affect the Ninja Academy as students enter at as young as age six. As I’m sure you are all aware, especially Ayuzawa-san, there is a civilian school in the village. I would like to either build on to this school or build an additional school altogether.”

Iruka didn’t give anything away in his expression as he clarified, “All children and teenagers would be treated as civilians then, Sakura-sama?”

“How long is the average schooling for a genin, Iruka-sensei? Six years? Then, at age twelve, children will be allowed to enter the Ninja Academy if they so wished.”

Iruka looked off to the side and the room waited as he thought. After a moment, he looked to Sakura and she could see the smile in his eyes even if it was barely apparent on his lips. “We will have to work through a _lot_ of course planning. Along with transferring current students over.” He turned to Ayuzawa. “Do you believe the current school could handle an inflation of that many students? I believe there are around a hundred currently enrolled at the Ninja Academy.”

Ayuzawa glanced at Sakura as she answered, “Perhaps. We would eventually need to build on to the school. Temporary buildings and adjustments could be made in the meantime. There would also need to be more teachers if we added that many students.”

Iruka nodded and turned back to Sakura. “What would we do with the genin that are already out in the field? The ones that are graduating this term?”

“They would be pulled from the roster.” Sakura ignored the heated glares on the side of her face from the corner of the table. “As for those graduating, they could be put on teams to train until they turn eighteen.”

Iruka nodded and when his pause lasted longer than a minute, Sakura asked, “What are you thinking, Iruka-sensei?”

He chuckled and looked at her with a smile. “I think it’s a great idea.”

Sakura smiled relieved and then waved a hand at the table. Mitokado was the first to speak – well, speak was an understatement, he basically yelled. “You can’t be serious!”

Sakura cocked an eyebrow at him. “I am very serious, Mitokado-san.”

“Do you have any idea how much this would _cut_ our forces?”

Sakura nodded, leaning back in her chair. “Oh, yes, I do. It’s by a lot.”

The elder’s face turned an interesting shade of red and Sakura worried he might actually have a stroke. “How is this beneficial to our village? What does this _do_ besides put us at a greater risk for an attack? The economy would even suffer!”

“The mortality rate would go down,” Sakura spoke in a calm voice, but one that was not open to argument.

“They could be placed on lower ranked missions then, instead of shrinking our shinobi force down!” Mitokado ignored the tone of her voice. But Sakura wasn’t too annoyed, he was only making a fool out of himself.

“No.” Sakura thought back to the records her and Misaki had pulled. Genin weren’t dying because the rank of mission was too high. She’d been surprised but there wasn’t a pattern with it. Most failed missions were D-rank and one of the first missions those genin had taken on.

Shikamaru’s thoughts were along the same lines as hers. “Having genin be at eighteen, they would be more prepared for missions.”

Ino nodded thoughtfully beside him. “No matter how much we train them, we can’t deny the fact that a twelve-year-old _is_ a child. How can you expect a child to make life or death situations in the heat of a battle? Their brains aren’t even fully developed. An _eighteen-year_ old’s brain is not even fully developed.”

Sakura clasped her hands together and leaned them against her lips, watching her councilmen discuss with hope budding in her chest.

Utatane’s voice was quieter than the other elder but held that same indignation to it. “There have been plenty of amazing shinobi that were only children. Ones that have had better track records than the shinobi in this room, including myself.” She met Sakura’s eyes. “Even beloved people in your own life, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch, thinking of a soaked Kakashi as he stood in front of the memorial stone in the rain.

Yamato spoke before she could. “That is a fairy tale we like to tell ourselves, Utatane-san. Even if… we have exceptional children as ANBU, more often than not, children do not last long. And if they do, they are not mentally stable adults.”

“Well, even so, we were discussing genin, were we not, Sakura-sama?” Utatane scoffed.

“Considering what we’ve already discussed, I assumed it would’ve been clear there will be no fast tracking genin. No _exceptional_ children will be pulled from the new system and allowed to become genin before eighteen. There will be no skipping grades or anything similar.”

Utatane didn’t continue her argument, neither did her partner jump in. Ayuzawa spoke up next to Iruka, “How will we handle the backlash from parents, Sakura-sama? Especially with renown clans, I can’t imagine they would be happy with their children not being raised as shinobi.”

Sakura fought back a satisfied smile at Ayuzawa speaking so strongly. She waved a hand in the air. “I am not putting any restrictions on children training to be shinobi, whether it be by their own family or private teachers. Parents are welcome to continue to raise their child the ninja way. It will simply not be taught in their children’s school unless they are sent to the Ninja Academy when they turn twelve. I am positive I will be hearing complaints from parents regardless and I will handle them accordingly.”

Usui commented beside her, “This also allows for the person to choose to be a shinobi if they graduate from the academy at eighteen. There will not be any more children forced to be shinobi when they clearly do not want it.”

Sakura couldn’t stop her smile then and she nodded. “Good point, Usui-kun.”

Mitokado had calmed down at the other end of the table, though maybe he had simply realized he was going to get outvoted. He insisted nonetheless, “How will we handle the strain on our forces?”

“As I led with at the beginning of this discussion, we are living in peaceful times right now. Mission requests have even died down since the war. The ratio has flipped, and we are in crisis of dealing with too many shinobi and not enough work.” Sakura closed the folder in front of her and met his eyes, her expression steely. “I strongly believe that if we should ever attempt to do away with child soldiers, now is the best time.”

Mitokado did not reply and looked away from her, giving the slightest nod of his head. Sakura raised her voice. “Shall we put it to a vote or are there any more points to discuss beforehand?”

Everyone shook their heads at her and looked at her expectantly. Sakura let out a breath. “Those in favor say ‘aye’.” A chorus of ayes rang out in the room.

Sakura turned to Misaki at her right. “Count?”

“Nine.”

Sakura looked over at the end of the table in mild surprise but did not comment on the elders avoiding her gaze. She nodded. “Then, it is decided. Iruka-sensei, Ayuzawa-san, we will be holding meetings in the upcoming weeks to get this process going. I trust you will work well together. Once I return to my office, I will start pulling names to take off the mission roster. We can meet tomorrow to begin writing this new law into the books and releasing it to the public. If you two are available?”

They both nodded. “Yes, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura stood up from her chair. “Meeting adjourned then. Thank you all for your time. I look forward to our meeting next month.”

There were thanks and goodbyes thrown her way as people got up to leave. Sakura sent them smiles as they left the room. Iruka stopped by her side and put a hand on her arm with a warm smile. “I’m proud of you.”

Sakura smiled back at him. “Thank you, Iruka-sensei.”

He nodded and followed after the others. Sakura let out a breath and grabbed her folder before walking with Misaki back to her office. Misaki smiled at her, clearly proud of what they had done. “Tea, Sakura-sama?”

Sakura laughed softly. “Yes, please. Thank you, Misaki-chan.”

***

“I thought you were pretty amazing today,” Sasuke commented idly as she turned his arm in her hands.

Sakura teased, “ANBU are not supposed to listen in on confidential meetings, Sasuke-kun.”

She could hear him roll his eyes. “Sorry, I have ears, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura chuckled and threaded more chakra through the prosthetic. They were sitting on her couch after Sakura had dragged him into her apartment after dinner when he had told her his arm had been bothering him. Sakura and Tsunade would always do their best, but neither of them were foolish enough to believe there wouldn’t ever be complications. It was to be expected with artificial chakra pathways. The guys were lucky enough their arms functioned at all.

She shrugged and told him quietly – still getting used to any kind of praise, “Well, thank you.”

Sasuke asked after a minute, “You really think this is going to work out?”

Sakura nodded. “The hardest part of all this will be convincing the public it’s a _good_ thing. Once that is done, the rest is… careful planning and rearranging of things. I can’t imagine the children who were about to be granted their headbands will be particularly happy nor the ones that will be pulled off the roster.” She sighed. “But this is _for_ them and… they’ll understand when they’re older.”

Sasuke snorted. “Don’t sound like an old woman, Sakura, you’re only twenty-four.”

Sakura hit him in the shoulder, still being careful with his arm. “Oh, shut up.”


	6. Dango

When Sakura heard the door open, she groaned but didn’t pick her head from where it was buried in her arms on the desk. “No, no, go away.”

“Is that how you treat all your guest, Sakura-sama?” An amused silky voice spoke near her desk and Sakura felt her body sag in relief.

She picked up her head, her hair probably a mess by the way Misaki hid a laugh nearby. “No. My guards were told to not let any more visitors in.”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her from the other side of the desk. “They let me in?”

“I figured if they let someone in, then they were a good friend.” Sakura shrugged, causing the robes to slip from her shoulders from where Misaki had draped them when Sakura fell asleep.

“What if it had been an emergency instead?”

“Then, I would’ve been horribly embarrassed.”

Kakashi laughed and then his eyes softened as he looked at her. “You look exhausted.”

Sakura rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her hair in a useless attempt to fix it. “Thanks, Kakashi.”

“I’ll make it up to you.” He angled his head towards the door and slipped his hands in his pockets. “Come on, I’ll buy you some dango.”

Sakura did not need to be told twice and got up from her chair. She shot Misaki a smile. “I’ll be back soon, Misaki-chan.”

As they slipped into the hallway, Misaki called out, “Just take her home, Hatake-san!”

Kakashi chuckled and Sakura tried to not blush at the innuendo.

***

Kakashi did buy her some dango and Sakura chewed on it happily as they strolled through the village; their arms brushing as they walked aimlessly.

“I imagine you’ve had quite a few visitors this last week.”

Sakura sighed and kicked at a small rock on the road. “I was on the verge of writing a script to read from, I had to answer the same questions and complaints so many times.” She looked up at the clouds above them. “Maybe I can put Misaki in a pink wig and we can tag team.”

Kakashi laughed. “I don’t know. How good are Misaki-san’s acting skills?”

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see.” Sakura shot him a grin.

Kakashi smiled back at her and Sakura subconsciously leaned into him as they walked. He told her after a moment, “I think you’ll always continue to amaze me; you know that?”

Sakura looked at him surprised by the sudden statement. “Why’s that? Because of what I’ve done as Hokage?”

Kakashi glanced at her, his eyes warm. “More than that.”

“Care to elaborate?” Sakura asked him, slightly nervous. Something warm was twisting inside her as she met his eyes.

“Not today.” He winked at her and Sakura rolled her eyes. _What a tease._

She asked him after a moment of quiet, “So, you think what I’m doing with the children is a good idea?”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her and turned back to face the road. His voice was quiet. “I’m sure you already know how I feel about it without having to get into it.”

Sakura sighed with a sad smile. “I suppose you’re right.” 

“You’re doing good, Sakura.” Kakashi stopped walking and turned to her. “I think you’re going to end up being the best Hokage we ever had.”

Sakura chuckled and broke his gaze. “Now, I don’t know about _that_.”

“I think so,” he told her, soft and firm.

Sakura’s chest felt tight at his tone and she glanced around – _in a way she thought was casual, it was anything but_ – for a topic change. She noticed they were at her apartment and wondered when Kakashi had turned their aimless wandering to here. She looked back to him and jerked her head to the building.

“What?” he asked her innocently as he followed her eyes. He cocked an eyebrow back at her. “I was pretty sure Misaki meant _your_ home earlier.” He shrugged and then started to tease her with a devilish grin, “But if –“

Sakura interrupted him, already feeling her face heating. “She’s on this tirade of me getting enough sleep. Even though, I tell her I _do_.”

“You were literally asleep at your desk earlier.”

“I was only resting my eyes.”

Kakashi laughed. “You’re getting old in your wise age, Sakura-chan.”

Sakura rolled her eyes at him fondly. Kakashi turned on his heel and Sakura took it as the end of the conversation. She moved to walk up her steps, a goodbye on her lips, before Kakashi reached out and pulled her closer. She felt her heart race as he whispered near her ear, “You need to learn to accept praise better, Sakura-sama.”

Before she could respond, he’d let her go and was out of sight. Sakura huffed and walked up to her apartment with red cheeks.


	7. Something Precious

Sakura had just left the training ground from sparing with Naruto for a couple hours. It was difficult to find the time to train but she managed, it wasn’t like she could just let herself go to waste from sitting in a chair all day. She’d turned the corner to head back to her office when she felt a presence at her back.

She turned at the same time a voice yelled, “Hey, Hokage-sama!”

Sakura’s eyes fell to a little girl with red curly hair who was glaring up at her. Sakura fought back a chuckle at her angry pout and smiled. “Hello.”

She pointed a finger at her. “Hokage-sama, I have a bone to pick with you!”

Sakura raised an eyebrow at her, though she already knew where this was going. She hadn’t had too many previously instated genin coming to her, but there’d been a few. “You do?”

“Yes!” She nodded up at her, her eyebrows pulling together. Sakura guessed she barely contained stomping her foot. “You can’t just _kick_ me and my team off the mission roster!”

Sakura crouched down to her height. “Did you read through the new policy?”

The girl hesitated and looked to the side. “I did. But it doesn’t _matter_. I can handle myself on missions! My team and I have _only_ had successful missions and we have been on the roster for a year already.”

Sakura studied her face and tried to place a name to the red hair and freckles. “Who’s your sensei?”

“Lee-sensei,” she answered with a proud smile on her face and Sakura instantly recognized her. Lee had been one of the more understanding senseis but had warned her one of his students might come complain to her. It had slipped Sakura’s mind with how many people had shuffled through her office the past month.

“Ah, Taiga-chan. Sorry, it took me a minute to place your face.” Sakura smiled as Taiga’s cheeks blossomed pink.

She shook her head. “It’s fine, Hokage-sama. It doesn’t _matter_ – I want my team reinstated and –“

“Taiga-chan, you say you’ve never had a failed mission before?” Sakura interrupted her before she could get revved up again.

“Yes! We haven’t!” Taiga’s grin reminded her of Lee, and she fought back a chuckle.

“What do you consider a successful mission, Taiga-chan?” Sakura asked her.

She looked at her confused and paused before answering, “If what the client has requested has been met. If they were guarded and met their destination, if the target item was stolen, or whatever the goal was of the mission assignment.”

“See, I have a different definition – well, more like an add on, for me to believe a mission was _truly_ successful. I know others disagree with me, including past Hokages, but if I stand my ground on anything, it’s this.” Sakura leveled her eyes with her, making sure to keep her smile gentle. “A mission is only truly successful if the team does not come back with any life-threatening injuries and I’m including _every_ member.”

Taiga’s eyebrows scrunched together, and her voice was down an octave. “But… there are shinobi who die in the field and the team carried out the mission to its completion.”

“I know that.” Sakura nodded and glanced to the side before looking back to her. “I believe the _first_ goal of every mission should be to come back alive. I would rather have _that_ success over the success you stated earlier.”

“Sometimes a mission is worth dying for.”

Sakura felt her heart break at the certainty in this _twelve-year_ old’s voice. How hard her eyes were, how much she believed that.

“You’re right.” Sakura agreed with her, even if it was a heavy statement. “I think so too, as I’m sure many other shinobi do. But I am not going to ask any shinobi to lay down their lives for a mission. That is an _individual_ decision. Though I also think those missions are rarer than you think. We are not in a war right now. There are not as such high-stake missions in times of peace, but I won’t say there are _none_.”

“If I have to… I would fight to the death to protect someone.”

Sakura smiled at her; vaguely aware they were having such a heavy conversation by the market street. “At that point, Taiga-chan, are you dying for the mission or are you dying for what you believe in?”

Sakura thought back to her first C-rank mission. How helpless she had felt, the panicked acceptance that she might die. How she guarded their client with a fierceness in her heart, ready to at least use herself to buy some time. How Sasuke shielded Naruto with his body from an onslaught of kunai.

_“I won’t allow my comrades to die. I’ll protect you with my life.”_

Those things had never been about the mission.

Taiga didn’t respond, her dark eyes glued to Sakura’s face. Sakura told her, “I believe that a child shouldn’t have to make that kind of decision. I don’t think children should have to decide what they’re willing to die for. You’re too young. No matter how much we can prepare you physically or how many missions you get good coin for. That kind of way of thinking is something you can’t teach. For you to have to learn that about yourself as you are trying to simply figure out who you are, is too much for anyone to handle.”

Taiga’s hands had balled into fists at her sides and she tore her eyes away from Sakura. Though she didn’t think it was an angry reaction. Sakura continued softer, “I don’t think kids die in the field because we didn’t train them hard enough or because they were incapable of handling themselves in a fight. I think it’s because you’re not mentally ready yet and that’s not _your_ fault. It’s not something you can overcome through gritted teeth and perseverance.”

She could tell Taiga already knew she lost the argument, but she still insisted meekly, “I’ve never been hurt on a mission before.”

“What would you do if you were?”

Taiga’s eyes went back to her. “Lee-sensei – “

“What if Lee-sensei died?”

Sakura watched as her breath hitched but she didn’t regret asking it.

“I – My team would – I know some first aid. I could – “

Sakura reached up and gently wiped a tear away from the corner of Taiga’s eyes. Her face scrunched up in response and she breathed in through her nostrils hard and held it. _Trying to put on a brave face_. Sakura held back a laugh. _She was so much like Lee, only needing the green jumpsuit._

“I am a shinobi, Hokage-sama.” Taiga met her eyes with an intense gaze. “And shinobi get hurt.”

“I don’t think you understand the weight death carries.”

The voice wasn’t Sakura’s, but she knew it by heart and looked up to see Kakashi at her shoulder smiling down at Taiga. Taiga’s eyes widened slightly in recognition. “Hatake-san?”

“I died once.” Sakura almost snorted at his deadpan tone.

Taiga stared at him confused, her face twisting adorably. “What?”

“In the Pain attack.” Kakashi nodded, and then shrugged as he looked at her. “You might have been around six. Do you remember?”

Taiga nodded. “Iruka-sensei said there weren’t any casualties though – and what do you mean you _died_?”

“Pain actually killed a lot of people.” Kakashi sighed. “But then he brought them back.”

Taiga looked like she was trying to decide if she believed him and then turned to Sakura. Sakura nodded and Taiga looked back to Kakashi. “What – what was that like?”

“I don’t think there’s really words to describe it, Taiga-chan.”

She opened her mouth for another question but decided against it and closed her lips. She glared at the ground and Sakura asked her after a moment. “Taiga-chan, do you remember where you were that day?”

She looked up at her. “Iruka-sensei took us to… this safe place. It was in Hokage Mountain, I think. It’s hard to remember.”

Sakura nodded. “Why do you think he took you there?” Taiga took longer to a second to respond and Sakura answered for her. She booped her on the nose with her finger and smiled warmly. “Because he wanted to protect you, because you’re _precious_.”

Taiga’s cheeks turned a faint pink and Sakura chuckled. Taiga pouted and looked away from her, clearly embarrassed. After a moment of her glaring at the dirt, Sakura asked her tentatively, “Taiga-chan?”

Taiga whipped her head around to her and nearly shouted, “ _Okay_! I get it, Hokage-sama! I’m too young and I don’t understand some things. _Okay_. But you wait, Hokage-sama, I’m going to be a _great_ ninja! Lee-sensei already told us he would help us train until we turn eighteen. And I’m going to work _hard_!”

Sakura laughed and stood up. “I’m sure you will be, Taiga-chan. I certainly believe in you.”

She nodded with a determined grin, glancing at Kakashi too. Then with a quick wave she ran off, calling over her shoulder, “Thank you, Hokage-sama! Hatake-san!”

Sakura watched her disappear into the street and around a corner. She naturally leaned into Kakashi next to her and looked up at him. “How long had you been listening?”

“Most of it.” He smiled down at her. “I didn’t see much of a point in stepping in.”

Sakura snorted and began walking again with Kakashi right next to her. “You did at the end.”

“Not every day the opportunity arises to freak out a kid and tell them you’re immortal.” Kakashi sighed dreamily, his head tilting back to look up at the clouds.

Sakura laughed and hit him in the chest. “You are not _immortal_.”

“That remains to be seen. I think I have a pretty good case so far.”

Sakura couldn’t help her grin but did threaten, “I better not be hearing about you trying to _test_ the theory, Kakashi.”

Kakashi gave her an innocent look. “I’m _always_ careful, Sakura-chan.”

Sakura rolled her eyes. “ _Of course_ , Kakashi-kun.”


	8. A92

Sakura was doing another night at the hospital – she’d limited herself to only one night a week and maybe a Saturday afternoon if Misaki didn’t find out. She’d finished up with the list of patients she’d been assigned and dropped by Usui’s office. He was headed to the door as she opened it and he looked up at her in surprise. “Sakura-sensei! I was just coming to find you.”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, no,” he assured her with a wave of the hand. “He’ll be fine, but I thought I’d let you know Hatake-san is here. I figured you’d want to see him – Sakura-sensei?”

Sakura had spun on her heel and turned back towards the Emergency Care wing. “What room?”

“A92.”

She heard Usui sigh behind her, but he didn’t follow. Sakura found the room, ripping the chart off the wall and walking in without knocking. Kakashi looked up from his spot on the bed, his eyes widening slightly before giving his crinkly eyed wave. “Yo.”

Sakura glared at him. “Your mission debrief was not even _two_ hours ago! Why didn’t you tell me you were injured?” She went to put her hand on her hip and thought better of it, seeing the ridiculous image in her head.

Kakashi went to run his fingers through his hair and winced, putting his hand back on his thigh. “I wouldn’t want the other shinobi to think I get special treatment from our beloved Hokage.”

Sakura rolled her eyes, her anger softening at see him in pain. She skimmed through his chart. “Broken ribs? Anything else?”

“No.”

Sakura sighed and put the chart on the counter before stepping towards Kakashi. She unzipped his vest and slipped a hand under his shirt. Kakashi reeled back from her cold hands on instinct. “Sorry,” she mumbled absentmindedly.

“It’s okay,” Sakura caught his eyes as he spoke, feeling herself blush as at the softness in his gaze.

She cleared her throat and focused again on trying to find the breaks. She found three ribs broken and bit the inside of her cheek. “Kakashi, you have _three_ ribs broken.”

“That sounds about right.” With how close she was standing she could feel his breath ghosting her skin.

Sakura huffed and tried to calm her racing heart – _what was wrong with her?_ “You should’ve told me earlier.”

“Maybe next time.”

Sakura didn’t argue again, knowing that was probably the best she was going to get from him. It would take more than a few minutes to heal him and Sakura already knew she’d have to go home after this. Mending broken bones was always one of the more draining processes because of the time it took.

Kakashi tried to appease her. “I _did_ go to the hospital.”

Sakura smiled and met his eyes. “You did.”

He smiled back at her and Sakura found it hard to look away from him. She felt a hand cover the one that she had on his knee. “You look tired. I could have another –“

Sakura shook her head and broke his gaze, looking to where her hand was under his shirt. “I’m fine.”

Kakashi chuckled lightly and commented, “You were always stingy with me.”

“I was _not_.” Sakura laughed, glancing at his face. “You just had a bad habit of sweet talking the other medics into letting you go home.”

“I would never.”

“Oh, _Sakura-chan_ , you’re such a talented medic, I’m sure I’m well enough to go home.” Sakura badly imitated his voice, laughter bubbling in her chest at his smile. “ _Sakura-chan_ , your handsome sensei feels all better now. I think I should go home.”

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him with a wide smile. “You think I didn’t know you were trying the same thing on the others? _I_ would never fall for it though.”

“Mmm, maybe why I always tried to sneak out the window,” Kakashi told her thoughtfully.

Sakura rolled her eyes with a laugh. “You’re ridiculous.” Before he could reply, she slipped her hand out of the warmth of his shirt. “And _all better_ now, Kakashi.”

Kakashi smiled at her and she took a step back as he stood up from the bed. “Thank you, Sakura-chan.”

Sakura nodded, feeling oddly cold without Kakashi as close to her. She smiled as she picked up his chart, filling out the rest of it. “Of course, Kakashi.” She glanced up at his warm smile and felt her heart skip a beat. She teased, “Though I do hope you’ll remember you’re not immortal.”

He chuckled, briefly touching her arm before going to the door. “I’ll try to, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura’s walk home that night was filled with thoughts of soft smiles and warm touches. She sighed as she opened the door to her apartment. She was going to have to accept that somewhere along the lines, things had changed between her and Kakashi. She was sure they were for the better, but as she wondered about doing anything about, she felt her heart pound against her chest.


	9. Gossip

Sakura was going to _kill_ this man; she was going to grab him by the neck and throw him _through_ her window, follow him down to the ground and _pummel_ him to death, and _then_ –

“Sakura-sama?” The source of her irritation broke through her thoughts and she looked up – _trying so hard to not glare_ – to see that _stupid_ smirk. “Have you been listening to me?”

Sakura swallowed and forced herself to smile, though it probably looked deadly. “Of course, Sanada-san.”

He leaned forward on the desk and Sakura wanted to rip his filthy skin off her paperwork. “Sakura-sama, I told you to call me Shota.”

Sakura sighed and busied herself with her meeting notes in front of her – the agenda they were supposed to be following but this _advisor_ kept steering the conversation to different directions. 

“I do not think that is appropriate, Sanada-san.”

“Hm, well I think I might be able to change your mind before the night is over.” He winked at her and Sakura swallowed back the daydream of a crow plucking his eyes out.

“Back to the new policies I’ve implemented” – Sakura completely ignored the comment and passed another paper to him – “They have been quite successful. I’ve had my team run analytics on the mortality rate and it has decreased greatly even over just a month. Additionally, the public has expressed great happiness with the new council. I know my councilman Ayuzawa-san has been told on multiple occasions that it feels as if the relationship between our shinobi and civilians has bettered.”

Sanada didn’t even glance down at the paper, choosing instead to watch her talk. “I know the Fire Daimyo will be happy to hear so. Once he heard of you altering the shinobi force, he was quite concerned.”

Sakura waved a hand at the papers she had given him. “Well, it is all there for you to pass along if he would like to look at the reports.”

Sanada nodded, glancing down at the papers and then putting them in his bag. He stood up from his chair and Sakura shouldn’t have been relieved because he shot her a sly grin. “Now that all the politics are out of the way, how about you take me to dinner, Hokage-sama?”

Sakura could feel Misaki’s pitiful eyes on her and wished there was a way she could get out of this. _But politics were never out of the way with politicians._

She stood up from her desk and let out a breath. _Kami, her face was going to be sore from all the smiling._ “Of course, Sanada-san.” She looked over at Misaki with pleading eyes. “Misaki-chan, would you like to join us?”

Misaki was the best advisor because she instantly nodded and stood up from her desk. “Yes, Sakura-sama.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary, Misaki-chan. We wouldn’t want you to feel overworked.” Sanada waved a hand in her direction and Sakura thought about the exact amount of chakra she would need to snap each of his fingers one by one.

Misaki huffed. “I wouldn’t consider it –“

Sanada looked back to Sakura and talked over her, “Sakura-sama, I’ve seen Misaki work so hard all day. Don’t you think she deserves a night in to relax?”

_What a slimy bastard. Did he always use his position to manipulate every woman he encountered or was Sakura just that damn lucky?_ A smile stretched out across Sakura’s face and she looked to Misaki. “We’ll have dinner another time, Misaki-chan.”

Misaki gave her a sympathetic look and nodded. “Of course, Sakura-sama. I hope you have a good meal.”

Sanada grinned satisfied and gestured for Sakura to walk to the door. She felt his hand on her back once they were in the hall and stopped. She leaned back and told him in a sweet voice dripping with threat. “Oh, please do not touch me, Sanada-san. From fighting in the field for so long and going through a war, it has made me a little jumpy when people touch me. I wouldn’t want to hurt you on instinct.”

The hand left her and Sanada visibly swallowed. “Of course.”

Dinner was as she had expected. Flirtations thrown her way that got more pronounced as the night dragged on. Sakura was getting to her wits end and almost debated waving her fingers for an ANBU to _shut this man up one way or another_.

She was wondering how offended the Fire Daimyo might be if she requested a different advisor next time there needed to be a visit. He had more than a few, why did she have to get the short end of the stick?

“So, what does the Hokage do to relax after a long day of work?” Sanada leaned on his palm and raised an eyebrow at her. “Lay in a bubble bath and drink wine?”

Sakura met his eyes. “No, I prefer sake and pummeling my sparing partners in the training grounds after a hard day.”

His eyes widened slightly, and he laughed. “You truly are something else, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura hummed in response and busied herself with putting more food in her mouth. As the rest of the night, he didn’t seem to mind carrying on the conversation by himself. “Do you at least have someone to go home to or...?”

Sakura swallowed her food and didn’t bother to hide her annoyance as she cocked an eyebrow. “That’s a bit personal, don’t you think, Sanada-san?” 

“What?” he asked her with a face of innocence. “We’re not in the Hokage Tower anymore. I was just trying to make friendly conversation.”

At Sakura’s silence, he shrugged. “Though, from what I’ve heard, you don’t.”

_Wait…, was this a way out for her?_ Sakura smiled and sat up straighter. “Well, if it’s just _friendly_ conversation, then I suppose I’ll tell you that I _do_.”

“Really?” He narrowed his eyes at her disbelieving. “May I ask who?”

“No.” Sakura shook her head. “Sanada-san, you seem like a very intelligent person. I’m sure you could understand why I have to keep my personal life so private.”

Sanada hummed and turned back to his food. “I suppose so, Sakura-sama.”

***

“The evil is gone, Misaki-chan!” Sakura smiled widely at her as she came in the next day.

Misaki chuckled at her. “Sakura-sama, be careful what you say.”

Sakura scoffed. “I just came back from walking him out of our village. He is _gone_. Don’t worry or ruin my fun.”

“Okay, Sakura-sama.” Misaki nodded with a fond smile as she went to her desk.

The day went on normally and Sakura mainly stayed in her office, trying to catch up on work that she hadn’t had time to deal with before the Daimyo advisor’s visit. When Misaki came back from lunch, Sakura could feel her eyes on her every now and then.

She looked over at her and sighed when Misaki glanced away. “Misaki-chan, what is it?”

“Well, Sakura-sama…” Misaki paused and looked to the side. “I heard some gossip while I was out for lunch today.”

“Oh, go tell Ino-Pig, she loves gossip.” Sakura turned back to her work. “I don’t really care for it.”

“What if it concerned you?”

Sakura shrugged. “I’m the Hokage, there’s bound to be rumors about me.”

“I think you’ll want to hear this one.”

Sakura looked over at the tone of her voice. Misaki’s eyes looked worried but she smiled. “You’re apparently in a serious relationship with someone.”

Sakura felt her eyes widened and she glanced away, feeling her heart rate pick up. _He didn’t… or maybe someone overheard?_ She shook her head and willed herself to believe it as she said, “It’ll die down.”

“Probably but isn’t there…” Misaki began hesitantly and then cleared her throat. “Someone you may not want to hear those rumors?”

Sakura met her eyes and Misaki gave her a knowing look. Sakura shouldn’t be surprised Misaki knew, she spent almost all her waking hours with the woman. Pink dusted across Sakura’s cheeks as she turned back to her papers, determined to let the subject drop. She replied in a quiet voice, “He doesn’t pay attention to gossip.”

Misaki responded just as quietly, “Of course, Sakura-sama.”


	10. More Practice

“Sakura-chan, since when have you been seeing someone? Do I know them?” Naruto asked, lounging on her couch.

“Those are just rumors, Naruto. You should know better than that.” She handed him a plate of the cookies she’d made.

He bit into one with a thoughtful face. “Well, yeah, _usually_. But you have been – oh, I don’t know – happier? Like more relaxed. You have this smile on your face sometimes with this far away look in your eyes. I just thought that it made sense.”

Sakura was thankful Naruto wasn’t looking her way, because she could feel her face heat as she someone came to mind. She forced a chuckle. “Where did you hear that, anyway?”

“Well, me and Kakashi were grabbing lunch after a spar – which I won by the way, so we went to Ichiraku’s and…” Naruto kept telling the story, but Sakura had already zoned out of it. _So, Kakashi had already heard it…?_

Naruto waved his hand in front of her face. “Sakura? Lost you there for a minute.”

Sakura blinked at him and then smiled at the crumbs near Naruto’s lips. “Sorry.”

He looked at her worriedly. “You alright? You know those rumors will just blow over.” 

Sakura nodded and tried for casual as she asked, “So, what did you and Kakashi think when you heard it?”

“Just that it was a rumor. I didn’t think much about it until later. Kakashi didn’t really comment on it.”

Sakura nodded and got up from the couch. “Well, you’re right, it’ll just blow over.”

Naruto let the subject drop, but she could tell he was still slightly worried about her with his furtive glances throughout the night.

***

The next time Kakashi showed up at her office inviting her to dinner, she offered up a change of pace.

“You want to cook for me?” Kakashi asked her with a raised eyebrow as they walked.

Sakura rolled her eyes, her skin heating. “I was thinking we could cook _together_. I’m still not the best at it. But I’m getting tired of eating out all the time.”

It was partly true. She _was_ tired of eating out, but she also started noticing the curious looks people had been sending her when she was out the last few days. She didn’t want Kakashi to get wrapped up in a rumor with her. _Not if he didn’t…_

Kakashi chuckled warmly. “Sure. Though, I haven’t cooked much since I was a kid. I used to be pretty good at it.” He shrugged and looked down at her. “Maybe I can show you a few things.”

Sakura smiled up at him, ignoring the blush on her cheeks. “I’d like that.”

“Kakashi, it’s not smoothing out,” Sakura grumbled from the counter where she was helplessly whisking at paste in a bowl.

Kakashi walked over to her with a chuckle. Her heart raced as he pressed himself against her back and leaned over her shoulder with his hand on her arm. “You need more water.” He leaned away for a moment and filled a cup of water. “Mix it as I pour the water in, I’ll tell you when it’s good.”

Sakura did as she was told, trying desperately to not think about every place she could feel Kakashi against her. He had such a way of making her nervous at the same time he made her so _content_. She fought to not lean back into him.

He moved back to the stove after they were done, and Sakura instantly missed the warmth at her back. She went to cut up the vegetables, noticing Kakashi’s affectionate smile at the eggplant, and finally broached the subject herself, “So, how bad is that rumor about me getting around?”

Nerves ran up her spine in the pause before he replied, “Which one?”

“The one where I’m actually Naruto in a pink wig.” Sakura tried to lighten the tension in her chest.

“Where do you keep buying all these wigs?”

Sakura chuckled and the sound of her knife hitting the cutting board filled the kitchen. Her heart began to sink in the minutes Kakashi didn’t say anything else. She began wondering if he had even cared…

“I…” Kakashi’s voice was soft and he didn’t meet her eyes when she turned her head to him. “I assumed it wasn’t true.”

Sakura assured him, warmth wrapping around her heart as she smiled, “It’s not.”

Kakashi smiled at her and Sakura’s heart squeezed at how he visibly relaxed. “How did that rumor start anyway? Do you know?”

“Oh this _stupid_ advisor from the Daimyo came down and he was such a“ – Familiar agitation welcomed her with open arms as she tried to find the best word – “ _sleaze_.” The sound of her knife hitting the board grew louder and Kakashi looked down in worry for his eggplant. “He wouldn’t _stop_ hitting on me with his innuendos and that _stupid_ smirk. He’s lucky I didn’t have him buried in the desert by Suna, no one would find him then. I’d make sure of it, Kakashi. Gaara is a good friend and he wouldn’t – “

Kakashi’s hand wrapped around hers before she could start waving her knife around. He raised an eyebrow at her with amusement in his face. “I think you’re getting a little off track, Sakura-chan.”

She huffed and let him take the knife from her, replacing her at the cutting board. “Well, when he asked me if I had someone to come home to, I lied. I guess he told someone else or – well, we were in a restaurant, so someone might’ve overheard. I don’t know, but that’s what started it.”

Kakashi hummed and then shrugged. “Well, either way, the rumor will die down soon. Is it bothering you?”

_Not anymore._

“No.” Sakura let out a breath and smiled as she checked the broth on the stove. “As long as my people close to me know, I don’t really care.”

Kakashi nodded and gave her a smile. He jerked his head to the pot on the stove. “I think it’s time to put everything together.”

Sakura pouted next to him on the couch as they ate their soup. “Kakashi, maybe I’m destined to be bad at this. You left me alone for like a minute and I burnt it.”

Kakashi chuckled beside her. “It’s really not bad, Sakura.” He moved to put his arm around her, and Sakura leaned into him as her heart beat frantically inside her chest. He leaned his head against hers. “Maybe some more practice will help.”

Sakura laughed softly and made herself more comfortable against him. “Yeah, I guess you’ll have to keep coming over.”

“I guess so.” He sighed dramatically but Sakura didn’t think he was too put out about it.


	11. Shattered Glass

Sakura felt pride and hope grow in her chest at people moved around her. She knew there were more than a few people who were upset about the new genin laws, but to see everyone show up like this made her think some of them had at least turned their heads around.

Sasuke came up beside her out of his ANBU uniform. “You look excited.”

“I am.” She grinned at him and asked, “Are you going to help all day?”

“I’ll stay as long as you do.” He shrugged with a small smile. “Or at least until my shift starts.”

Sakura grabbed his hand and pulled him into the fray as he grumbled about being manhandled. “Naruto will be here soon. He had something to do before he came out.”

School had let out for the summer break and they had taken the opportunity to start construction on the additional buildings to the civilian school. It reminded her of how the village had came together to rebuild after the Pain attack. She went to grab a pile of wood – Sasuke rolling his eyes at her as he was only able to grab a tenth of what she did – when she spotted Ichigo trotting after his parents with a bucket of nails. Sakura waved to him when he caught her eye and he waved back so eagerly he almost dropped his bucket. Sakura chuckled to herself as they walked.

“Where’s Kakashi?” Sasuke asked and something in his voice made her look over at him. _Yeah, he was teasing her if his smirk was anything to go by._

“Oh, shut up.” Sakura huffed and looked away from him with rosy cheeks. “It’s bad enough you see most of my day, you don’t need to _comment_ on it.”

Sasuke chuckled dryly. “What? I never look _inside_ the apartment. I just guard it.”

Sakura felt her face flame further and she glared at him. “I don’t think I need to remind you that I have over three hundred pounds in one arm right now.”

“I’ll drop it, Sakura- _sama_.” Sasuke snorted and added under his breath, “Though I might think you’re a bit of an idiot if you haven’t realized he’s in love with you.”

“What?” Sakura’s head whipped to him and Sasuke had to reach out and stop her from knocking like three people out with the wood she was carrying as she turned in surprise.

She looked over at them as they eyed at her in mild annoyance and moved out of her way. “ _Sorry_.”

Naruto chose that moment to join them with a clap on Sasuke’s back. Sasuke glared at him as he struggled to make sure the wood didn’t fall. He looked back to Sakura with a raised eyebrow, daring her to continue the conversation with Naruto there.

She glared at him, wondering if he’d timed that knowing Naruto was walking this way. He laughed when she didn’t say anything and turned to Naruto to say something. _Bastard._ He knew she wasn’t going to tell Naruto – at least not out here with so many people; Naruto had still not learned how to be subtle about certain things.

Sakura smiled at Naruto and he grinned back, then asked, “Where’s Kakashi?”

Sasuke turned to hide his chuckle as Sakura fought down a blush and debated pushing Sasuke and all his wood into a building. “I’m not sure. I don’t know if he was planning to come out.”

Naruto nodded and then looked to the various spots where they were laying the foundation for buildings. He made the sign and ten shadow clones appeared. They went in different directions to help all the projects. The original Naruto looked to them. “So, where are we starting?”

Sakura moved on to another part of the building, leaving Sasuke and Naruto to argue over the _correct way to paint a wall_. She was helping as much as she could, but she was also Hokage and was keeping an eye on things. She moved to the front of the building where they were placing windows in and spotted Kakashi.

He looked over at her when she rounded the building and smiled, leaning away from the building. Sakura moved to him but heard a curse and saw something falling out of the corner of her eye. She moved on instinct and grabbed a fistful of Kakashi’s vest, then threw him against a wall.

Glass shattered next to them not even a second later and Sakura looked up to see a chunnin staring down at them with a pale expression. “ _Kurosaki_! Be more careful or go do something else!”

His face turned red and he nodded hurriedly. “I’m sorry, Hokage-sama! Hatake-san!”

Sakura huffed and looked back to Kakashi to where she still had him pressed against the wall. He had a growing smirk and Sakura took a step back, her skin heating. She was increasingly aware of the eyes on them after the sound of the glass.

Kakashi chuckled, not looking away from her. “My hero.”

Sakura rolled her eyes and hit him lightly in the chest. “Don’t make fun of me. I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

His voice softened. “I know. Thank you, Sakura.”

Sakura gave him a smile and turned on her heel. “Well, I have to go check on progress.”

Kakashi fell into step beside her. “I’ll join you then.”

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him, and he teased her, “Well, if more flying objects come at me, I need you there to protect me.”

Sakura snorted but couldn’t stop her smile. “Are you going to be like this all day?”

He pulled her close with an arm around her waist. “Maybe.”

Sakura rolled her eyes but still leaned into his side, nonetheless.

***

Misaki had suggested Sakura go for a walk so she was doing just that. They’d been tearing through new policy proposals all morning and there was still _so much_ to do. It _still_ wasn’t a rule that a medic had to be on every team and Sakura was trying to figure out how to make that work with new training programs. She was thinking maybe it could be implemented into addition to the Ninja Academy curriculum if a shinobi were to go down that path. _But what if they ran out of students?_

Even though Misaki had shoved her out of the office, Sakura was still working through it in her head as she walked. She was running on the possibility of asking Usui for help when she noticed where her feet had carried her. She didn’t know how she knew he’d be there, but she turned with a feeling into the brush of trees.

Another memorial monument had been added next to the old one. The rock still had a shine to it, the fresh engravings reflecting the mid-day sun.

Kakashi’s eyes remained on the one he’d always stood at. Sakura knew he’d been working on not spending hours out here, not coming every day. But sometimes, she’d find him here like today, in solemn contemplation with his hands in his pockets and his eyes trained on names.

Sakura walked over to him and stood quietly by his side, her own hands slipping into the pockets of her robes. It was a while before Kakashi let out a sigh. “You know… I lost just about everyone I cared about in the Third Shinobi War; apart from Gai who I wasn’t even appreciating then.”

Sakura kept her eyes on the slab of rock, easily finding the same names Kakashi always looked at. Kakashi glanced at the other memorial stone. “I don’t want to stay I’m glad I didn’t lose anyone important to me because I did. Though we weren’t close, Asuma’s gone, and Shikaku, and Inoichi. But… I didn’t lose you guys.” He let out a dry chuckle. “Though all of you had me worried at more than one point. I consider myself… very lucky, I guess.”

Sakura didn’t feel her usual nervousness and reached an arm out to wrap around Kakashi’s. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and he seemed to relax in her hold. She told him softly back, “I’m glad I didn’t lose any of you, too.”

Kakashi smiled and didn’t feel the need to reply. Sakura didn’t know how long they stood there, but the sun had gone down in the sky by the time Kakashi moved. He turned and wrapped an arm around her waist. He smiled down at her, his gaze warm. “Well, after today, I think the least I could do is buy you dinner.”

Sakura nodded; her smile easy as she met his eyes. “I’d like that.”


	12. Seal of Approval

Sakura looked over at Naruto laying on the ground next to her, his arm over his eyes as he tried to catch his breath after their spar. She took a drink of water and thought about how similar it felt to that one day. She felt nervous saying it, but she did anyway, “What if I told you I was in love with someone?”

Naruto lifted his arm to look up at her in surprise. “Really?”

Sakura nodded with a small smile. “Really.”

Naruto looked up through the tree leaves in thought. He turned to her with a cheeky grin. “Is it Kakashi?”

A blush blossomed on Sakura’s cheeks and she stared down at him in surprise. “How did you know that?”

Naruto chuckled and shrugged against the grass. “I told you you’ve seemed happier. It wasn’t hard to figure out _who_ was the reason once I started thinking about it.”

“I told you I wasn’t seeing anyone, though.” Sakura thought back to Naruto on her couch after the rumors had started.

“Doesn’t matter. Things started to match up. I mean you two seem like you spend a lot of time together. Once you start paying attention, it’s kind of obvious. I wasn’t going to say anything until you felt like telling me, though.”

Sakura felt that familiar warmth for Naruto seeping out of her heart as he talked. He didn’t seem to judge her at all – not that she had expected him to – but she still wanted to ask, “You don’t… think it’s weird or anything?”

Naruto shook his head and then turned on his side to look at her better. “No. Why? Because of the age gap?”

“Because he used to be our sensei.” Sakura picked a blade of grass and started playing with it, avoiding Naruto’s eyes. “I don’t want… people to think he’s a pervert or anything. It’s not like he – he didn’t see me that way when we were younger. He never did anything or said anything and – I don’t know, Naruto. People might assume…”

“Who cares, Sakura?” Naruto’s bluntness made her head snap to him. He repeated, “ _Who cares_? I know that’s not what happened. Sasuke knows. Our friends and his friends wouldn’t even need to think about it. Who cares what anyone else thinks? You’ve never cared what anyone thought before.”

Sakura sighed and looked down at the grass in her hands. “I don’t care what anyone says about _me_. But I don’t want people talking badly about him.”

Naruto sat up and crossed his legs in front of her. He reached out and grabbed her hands. Sakura looked up at him and he gave her a small smile. “Sakura-chan, when has Kakashi ever cared what people thought about him? The man walks around reading porn.”

Sakura shrugged. “I guess you’re right.”

Naruto rolled his eyes at her. “I _know_ I’m right.”

Sakura laughed with a nod. “Okay, Naruto, I get it.”

He raised an eyebrow at her with a grin. “So, what’re you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know.” Sakura leaned back against the bark of the tree, glancing up at the sky through the leaves. “I think we’ll get somewhere soon naturally. I think I’ll just let it play out.”

***

Sakura had been walking down the street from her office to the hospital when she spotted Naruto and Hinata a few paces in front of her. She moved to call out to them but then Hinata let out a long sigh. “I don’t know, Naruto. Maybe I should polish the proposal more before giving it to her? She already looks so busy with the new school and I’ve seen her at the hospital and – “

Naruto put a hand on her shoulder and grabbed the paper that was crinkling in Hinata’s anxious hands. “Hinata-chan, you’ve rewritten this enough times, don’t you think? And that’s her _job_. Sakura-chan won’t mind looking this over. If you’d feel better, set up a meeting with Misaki-san.”

“But Naruto – “

Sakura caught up them and interrupted, gently grabbing Hinata’s elbow. Hinata turned to her in surprise, slightly blushing. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

“Sakura-sama – “

“Sakura- _chan_ ,” Sakura mindlessly corrected. She was still on her mission to get her friends to drop the sama outside of the Hokage Tower.

Hinata glanced at Naruto who gave her an encouraging grin. She sighed and then turned back to Sakura with a smile. “Sakura- _sama_ , I have something I would like to discuss with you if you have the time.”

Sakura smiled back at her and stopped her feet. She cocked her towards the Hokage Tower. “What about now?”

Hinata looked at her unsure. “You’re sure? Were you not on your way somewhere?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Sakura shook her head and then glanced at Naruto. She had a teasing comment on the tip of her tongue about them being on a date, but then decided she didn’t want to have to put up with his revenge.

Hinata and Naruto followed her back to the Tower, but before going inside Naruto stayed near the door. Hinata looked at him in question and he gave her a wide smile. “You’ll be fine, Hinata.”

Hinata smiled back at him with a nod and went with Sakura to her office.

Sakura read over the proposal quietly as Hinata clasped her hands in her lap in front of her. When Sakura finally looked up at her, she looked nervous but had a determination to her as she met her eyes. “What do you think, Sakura-sama?”

“You want to merge the two houses of the Hyuuga and abolish the curse seal. You’re claiming this is not far from slavery. Am I understanding correctly, Hinata?”

Hinata nodded. “I do not think my father will be opposed to it. I know Hanabi will not be and she is in line to take over the clan. But I do expect some opposition from our elders. I believe it would be beneficial to have the Hokage’s support before moving forward.” There was a hardness to her eyes that surprised and impressed Sakura. “Because I will be presenting this regardless of what happens today.”

Sakura smiled at her proudly. “There is no reason for me to oppose this, Hinata. You have my full support.” She glanced down at the drawn-out proposal and told her quietly, “Neji would be very proud of you.”

When she looked back to her, Hinata had a watery smile. “Thank you, Sakura-sama.”

The Hyuuga had always handled most of their disputes internally, so Sakura wasn’t surprised when there weren’t any Hyuuga elders in her office the following days. It was probably also due to the fact that Hinata probably included she had the Hokage’s seal of approval in her presentation to the clan, which few would try to argue with.

Sakura happened to be passing by the cemetery a few weeks later and spotted Hinata kneeling at a gravestone Sakura knew was Neji’s. She had a smile on her face as she laid some flowers down so Sakura expected she must be telling him good news.

Sakura didn’t want to intrude and kept walking with a small smile. 


	13. I Know

Most of the village loved the rain. Konoha was so hot most of the time, the cool water from the clouds felt like a sweet release. People found it relaxing to watch it from their windows. Children liked to splash in puddles in the street. The sound of the raindrops hitting the roof was soothing to a lot of people.

But Sakura didn’t like the rain. She didn’t know when it started but for as long as she could remember she’d hated it. It was so gloomy to her and outside of lightning strikes – _which was usually other people’s least favorite part_ – she hated it.

After today, she didn’t think she would ever be able to like the rain.

Sakura had kept herself indoors, going through mission reports with red ink as the raindrops hit her windows. It was nearing the end of the day and the rain just seemed to keep pouring harder with each passing hour. There was thunder in the distance and she pulled her robes around her tighter, the temperature drop starting to get to her.

She felt the flare of chakra before the window opened. Something about the panic of it, the heat of it as the window opened behind her sending a rush of wind and water into the room, made her heart stop. She stood up from her chair, knocking it down seconds before a wet body fell into her arms.

Hands clutched at her and there was a heavy breath against her neck. The weight was dragging her down and Sakura’s heart started to race as she recognized that shock of silver hair. “Kakashi?”

His fingers started to loosen in their grip and Sakura lowered him to the ground as the storm washed into her office. She could faintly hear Misaki and ANBU talking behind her. But all her focus was on Kakashi and how pale he looked. “Kakashi! Kakashi, what’s wrong?”

Sakura’s hands were glowing and running over him, searching for injuries. She ripped his vest open at seeing the bloodstain and her hands searched under his shirt for the wound. The clean cut went across his stomach and Sakura healed it quickly, her worry starting to pick up. _Something else was wrong._

Kakashi’s heartbeat was getting fainter, his breathing slowing even as she closed the wound. Sakura searched for anything else that could be wrong coming up with nothing. His eyes were fluttering, and Sakura hit his cheek. “Kakashi, you got to tell me what’s wrong.”

His eyes went to hers and Sakura didn’t think she’d ever been so scared in her life. She watched as his lips moved under his mask, but she couldn’t make out what he said. She ripped his mask down without hesitation and forced herself to not panic at the blue that was starting to color his lips. She leaned closer to his face and he tried again with a shuddering breath, “Poison.”

Sakura’s eyes widened and she barked out, “Get Usui! Get him _now_.” She felt an ANBU member flicker away and then Misaki kneeled next to her, “Sakura, what do you need?”

Sakura rattled off the ingredients to her and Misaki bolted away. She leaned down to his chest and listened to the pumping of his heart that was starting to climb up only to jump back down. Sakura swallowed thickly and forced herself to stay focused.

Usui was there as quickly as Misaki had returned with a handful of things followed by two other shinobi carrying pots. Sakura looked to Usui as he knelt on the other side of Kakashi. “You remember what I taught you about how to extract poisons?”

He nodded and then they began. One of Kakashi’s hands came up to grip at her arm when the liquid first passed through him. It hurt but not as much as the pained gasp that left Kakashi’s lips. Sakura and Usui worked over him, his exhaustion getting worse as more poison left him. Sakura started to worry he would lose consciousness – it wouldn’t necessarily worsen anything, but Sakura wanted him to stay awake. “Kakashi, you got to stay with me. Can you do that for me?”

She glanced at his face and he tried for a smile that turned into a grimace as more liquid was forced through him. Panic started to course through her veins as they worked. There was so much poison coating his muscles, more than Kankuro had even had. _How had he even managed to make it this far?_

Usui must’ve started to think the same thing and he glanced at her in question. Sakura bit out, “Keep working.”

Usui nodded and Misaki diligently handed him another pot. Kakashi’s heart rate started to slow and Sakura’s breath started to shake.

“Sakura.”

Sakura’s eyes went to his face. His warm smile usually comforted her, but all Sakura felt was anxiety thickening in her throat and choking her. He told her barely above a whisper, “I love you.”

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as tears rolled down her face, her hands continuing the work on instinct. She felt his hand fall from her arm and opened her eyes to look at him, his eyes fluttering. He repeated softer than before, “I love you.”

Sakura swallowed back a sob, chocking out, “I know, Kakashi. I _know_. _Please_ save your strength. You don’t need to tell me. I know.”

Kakashi’s eyes finally closed and Sakura tore her eyes back to her hands. She promised back, though he couldn’t hear her anymore, “I love you too. _So much_.”


	14. Let Me Pour Myself Into Your Cup

Sakura looked out the window as she realized it had stopped raining. The clouds were still dark in the sky though, so she didn’t expect it to not start up again. Water droplets continued to trail down the windows, the sound of it dripping onto the ground outside filling her ears.

Kakashi turned in his sleep beside her and her eyes went to him. The moonlight shined on his face as he turned towards her, his hair a mess against the pillow. Sakura gently moved the sheet over his nose as it slipped. She smiled softly, her eyes tired, as he breathed out against the pillow.

His heart rate had finally stabilized once they’d extracted all the poison. They’d transferred him to the hospital to run more tests and created an antidote for future use. Sakura had felt numb as they cleaned him up and laid him in a bed to rest. She hadn’t even realized she’d never stopped crying once she’d started back in her office. Not until Sasuke had gripped her arms and shook her, telling her she _knew_ Kakashi was going to make it and she needed to snap out of it. She’d nodded and a few more tears spilled as Sasuke pulled her to him with a sigh, his arms comforting around her.

He’d slipped back into his shadows once she’d calmed down and Sakura settled herself in the chair beside Kakashi’s bed. She knew Naruto would be there right along side her if he hadn’t been out on a mission. But Sakura was fine to wait by herself. It wasn’t like she could let herself sleep until she saw Kakashi’s eyes again, warm and softly smiling at her.

Despite her determination, Sakura had to start fighting her eyelids to stay awake. She had fought sleep longer before, but with the chakra exhaustion and how much she had cried, it was wearing on her. It felt like she had blinked and when she opened her eyes again, Kakashi was looking back at her.

She sat up from her chair and went to him, her hands going to his face. “Kakashi?”

He smiled at her tiredly and grabbed her hands in his. He met her eyes and then sighed, looking away from her. A second later he looked back to her, his eyebrows pulled together. “Did I tell you I loved you?”

Sakura’s words got stuck in her throat and it took her longer than necessary to answer, “You did. But Kakashi – “

He sat up and pulled her hands away from his face, the sheet falling to his lap and revealing his face. He didn’t seem to care though as he closed his eyes. “Sakura, I’m so sorry. You deserve better than that. Better than a man telling you with his dying breath – “

Sakura cut him off by leaning forward and pressing her lips to his. Kakashi stilled and when she pulled away, she smiled. “I love you, Kakashi, and it wasn’t your dying breath.”

He gave her a sad smile. “I thought it was.”

Sakura’s chest tightened painfully, and she met his eyes. “And that’s what you wanted to do with it?”

He let out a breath and looked down at her hands still wrapped around his. He admitted softly into the quiet room. “You were the only thought that carried me home. I’d lost every other thought I’d had. A madman just searching out for his savior.”

Sakura felt tears at the corner of her eyes, and she let go of one of his hands, to hold his face. That beautiful smile leaning into her palm as he looked back up at her helplessly – lovingly. Sakura’s voice could barely be heard over the dripping outside the window. “I don’t know if I’d call myself your _savior_.”

He let out a sigh, his breath tickling at her skin. “Then – if you prefer – a man just trying to go back to where he left his heart. My love for you felt like all I had left.”

Sakura kissed him again, diving in deeper as Kakashi’s arms wrapped around her and pulled her closer to the point she was on the bed with him. It was easy like they’d been doing it for years already. But it was also like trying to pour out everything you had into the other person’s cup, trying to make up for lost time. Sakura felt like everything that had been left unsaid was spoken with breaths mingled together and hands gripping at each other until they were as close as possibility allowed.

When they finally broke away from each other, Sakura was on her side next to him in the small bed. She was vaguely aware she was crying, miraculously still having tears left to shed after the day she’d had. “I love you, _so much_.” The words were like a ghost from before, but now Kakashi could hear them.

His smile was hesitant, and he asked her quietly, “You’re sure?”

Sakura nodded, only able to repeat, “ _So much_.”

Kakashi wiped away her tears with his thumb and teased her softly, his voice not even steady, “Well, you don’t have to cry about it.”

Sakura laughed and pulled him back to her lips.

***

Sakura didn’t even remember falling asleep between tired kisses and whispered confessions, but she apparently had. The sound of the door sliding open woke her up. She pulled the sheet up to cover Kakashi’s face before turning around, still laying in the bed.

Usui’s eyes met hers with a raised eyebrow and a small grin. Sakura felt herself blush and sat up in the bed. She glanced at the monitors hooked up to Kakashi and back to Usui. “How is he looking?”

“Good.” Usui looked down at the chart in his hand, flipping through pages. “All the poison is out of his system, his vitals remained constant throughout the night. I’m not worried about him.”

Sakura sighed in relief and made the move to swing her legs off the bed but Usui’s hand was at her shoulder pushing her back. “ _You_ , on the other hand, are _extremely_ chakra depleted.”

Sakura scoffed and tried to get off the bed again for only Usui to push her back. “Usui-kun, I am the _Hokage_. I don’t have _time_ to be chakra depleted.”

Usui didn’t budge. “You need to rest before you collapse.”

Sakura glared at him, a voice in the back of her head telling her she was allowing history to repeat itself. “Usui – “

An arm wrapped around her waist and tugged her back. A sleepy voice told her muffled against a pillow. “Sakura, just be a good sensei and listen to your student.”

Sakura rolled her eyes and turned to that mop of sliver hair sticking out from the sheets. “Like you have any – ‘

“I didn’t think it’d be that much trouble.” Usui interrupted her and she turned back to see a teasing smile. “I won’t make you get another room. I thought you wouldn’t have wanted to leave anyway.”

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. _Well, she didn’t until Kakashi was discharged, but patients with chakra depletion stay for days._ “Misaki will bring me my paperwork.”

Usui matched her gaze and they were quiet for a moment until he compromised. “Fine, but you are _not_ turning my hospital into the Hokage office. _No_ visitors outside of loved ones.”

Sakura sighed with a nod. Usui left without another word and Sakura laid back down with Kakashi. Sakura buried her face against his neck, feeling the vibrations from his chuckle. “You know your refusal to stay at the hospital reminds me of someone.”

Sakura bit back with a smile, “Shut up.”

Misaki refused to bring her paperwork but did drop in to visit every now and then. Kakashi asked her how she was liking the pink wig much to Misaki’s confusion. Sakura chuckled and told her it was an inside joke, which only made her advisor roll her eyes at them fondly.


	15. A List of Names

Sakura fought _hard_ to remain professional, to not let her personal feelings get in the way and it tore at her. It felt like it tore at her skin, opening wounds only to close and start over again.

Naruto was already a week late from his mission, which was so unlike him. If anything, Naruto finished his missions early. He was rarely late and had never been _this_ late. She knew something was wrong, something had happened. But she had to wait the two weeks before sending a retrieval team. 

She wasn’t the only one frustrated and argued with Sasuke about sending him home because his stress was just making hers worse.

When she was finally able to post the mission, Kakashi was in her office not an hour later – she knew he’d been one of the ones waiting for it. Her heart clenched painfully at handing him the scroll, hoping she’d have her loved ones back and not having just sent out another one to lose.

Kakashi made his recommendations for a team and Sakura wrote them down on a paper. “I’ll send out the scrolls by lunch time, Kakashi. They’ll meet you at the gates at five o’clock. Be ready to head out as soon as they do. I’ll make it a team of six.”

He bowed his head slightly and looked back at her hesitantly. There was regret in his eyes as he met hers, looking at her like it physically pained him to walk out of the room. Sakura could feel it in her bones as he took a step back, a searing pain that felt like it’d break her rib cage. She couldn’t help it when she choked out, “Don’t look at me like that.”

Kakashi’s feet stopped at the same time Misaki quietly excused herself and left the room. He let out a breath and walked back to her, rounding the desk. “Sakura – “

“Don’t look at me like you don’t know if you’ll come back.” Sakura refused to look at him. She knew she was being unfair and unrealistic, but Naruto had been gone over a month and she knew the rank of the mission _she’d_ assigned to him. Her nerves had worn so thin they were like twine ready to snap.

Kakashi’s hand came up to hold her face and turned her towards him. His mask was down, and he gave her a sad smile. “Sakura, I don’t want you to worry. But Naruto has been delayed already two weeks.”

“I know that.”

Kakashi leaned down and gave her a kiss that tasted bittersweet. When he pulled away, he smiled warmly at her. “I’m going to do my best to come home safe and sound to you, dragging Naruto by his hair if need be.”

Sakura smiled back at him and gave him one last kiss before watching him walk out the door. 

***

Sakura had already chosen four members and her pen hovered over the other names on the list. She sighed and finally let the pen clatter to the desk. “Misaki, would you please make us some tea?”

Misaki nodded and got up from her desk. “Of course, Sakura-sama.”

Once the door had closed, Sakura called out quietly, “Snake.”

Sasuke appeared by her side and bowed his head slightly. “Yes, Sakura-sama.”

“I’m assigning you to this mission.”

There was a heavy pause before Sasuke replied, “No.”

Sakura looked up at him, to see his eyes glued to the wall. Despite the situation, she felt a small smile on her lips. She stood up and grabbed his arm. She told him softly, “I know how this is killing you being here. I want you to go with Kakashi.”

He shook his head. “Sakura-sama, I am in your guard. I can’t just – “

“Yes, you can,” Sakura interrupted and turned him. She gently lifted the mask off his face to see Sasuke with his eyebrows pulled together and his eyes closed. “You can pick someone to cover for you if it makes you feel better. Rabbit or Snail have been in the Hokage guard before if you’d like someone with more experience.”

Sasuke opened his eyes and looked at her hesitantly. There were a hundred words unsaid in his eyes. Sakura patted his cheek. “I’ll be fine, Sasuke-kun.”

Sasuke sighed and glanced at the window. He was quiet for a moment before turning back to her with a nod. He pulled his mask back down. “Then, brief Rabbit and I will head out to prepare as soon as I am relieved.”

Sakura nodded and Sasuke flickered back to his post. Misaki looked at her curiously when she walked in but didn’t comment and smiled as she handed her tea.

***

The following days felt like torture. Sakura wished she could be selfish and stay in bed all day, refusing to talk to anyone. But she had a job to do and people relied on her, so she came into the office everyday and stayed until Misaki ushered her out.

She had no idea how lonely it would feel to have them all gone. She knew there had probably been instances where they had all been gone before, but maybe she’d been on a mission herself or it at least hadn’t felt this scary with each passing hour they were still not home. Worry ate at her and Sakura started to wonder if she would find clumps of her hair in the shower drain with how stressed she was.

It felt oddly reminiscent of when she was a teenager; Sasuke gone, Naruto training with Jiraiya, and Kakashi back in ANBU. Ino and her team had taken to inviting her out for lunch and dinner and to train with them. She would let herself feel nostalgic if she was surer her boys would be coming home soon.

Choji was able to spend the most time with her since he was a genin sensei and the least busy with Ino and Shikamaru both having more demanding jobs. Sakura found him calming with his open arms and home cooked meals.

Sakura pushed her plate to the side as she finished her last bite. She gave him a small smile. “Thank you for trying to keep me distracted, Choji. I’m sure I haven’t been the best company.”

“Don’t say that.” Choji chuckled as he started to clear plates and took them to his sink. “I’m happy to spend time with you. We all are.”

Sakura felt some tension ease in her stomach, and she got up to help him with the dishes. “You know the guys don’t occupy all my time. We can all hang out more.”

Choji grinned at her. “Think we’d enjoy that.” He handed her a plate to dry and gave her a conspiring look. “Maybe you can try and steal Ino more often when she’s in the mood for girl talk. Shikamaru and I can only handle so much.”

Sakura laughed with a nod. “You got it, Captain.”


	16. Breaking of Cuffs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains Graphic Depictions of Violence. It is in the third scene where an interrogation takes places with minor torture. If anyone would like to skip over that but would still like to know what it going, leave a comment and I will tell you what you missed.
> 
> Thank you for reading!

Sakura walked out of the hospital and felt something different in the air. She instinctively dodged a kunai sent her way at the same time an ANBU landed in front of her, Rabbit.

Feet landed beside her and Rabbit almost didn’t miss the swipe of a knife to his gut. Sakura’s eyes landed on the masked figure as they turned back to her with venom in their glare. Sakura was taken aback for a second by the anger, but quickly recovered and took a step towards the figure charging towards her.

More ANBU joined them and Cat grabbed her, pushing him behind her. Sakura knew this would be how this would play out but couldn’t help her frustration. She would never be comfortable with being protected like a helpless little girl.

Smoke filled the air as a tag went off and Sakura scanned for any movement with Cat pressing his back against hers. She could hear alarms going off and knew it wouldn’t be long before more shinobi arrived. She sensed the blade flying through the air but wasn’t able to dodge it completely and it grazed her cheek. She hissed from the sting but became more preoccupied when Cat turned her pushed her to the ground, covering her body with his as an explosion happened. Sakura pushed him off her and went in the direction of the sound of blades.

Cat followed closely behind her and Sakura reached the fight as a blade was embedded in Rabbit’s stomach. Sakura slammed her foot against the ground and the enemy barely had time to gasp in surprise before their feet slipped into the chasm Sakura had created. She heard another tag go off behind her and Cat moved them out of the way as he sent ink mice to the enemy she had captured in the ground.

_How many were there?_

Sakura took a step back and breathed in before slamming her fist to the ground, trusting her ANBU to know the sound and jump out of the way. The smoke had blown away by then, revealing another enemy that was going head to head with Rat. Sakura heard Cat call after her, but she ignored him as she barreled forward. She took the enemy by surprised as her hand gripped around their neck and slammed them to the ground.

She didn’t pay them any more mind and turned to see ANBU putting chakra cuffs on the other assailant as someone kneeled in front of – _Rabbit_.

Sakura ran over to him and fell to the ground, her hands going to his stomach. The ANBU member in front of her nodded to her and pulled out the blade. Rabbit bit back a scream of pain as Sakura poured as much healing chakra as she could into the wound.

She turned to the nearest ANBU and barked, “Take them to T&I. I need an increase of patrol on the walls and close the gates.”

“Yes, Hokage-sama!”

Sakura turned back Rabbit, his wound finally closing. She checked his heart rate and it continued to go down. Panic started to slither up her spine and on her gut instinct, she pulled off his mask – _ANBU members coming to shield his face from any onlookers with their bodies; though besides a few curious children; people typically avoided their eyes, respecting the faction that gave the most for them_. Sweat matted at Yamato’s eyebrows and Sakura asked him quietly but with urgency, “How’re your muscles feeling? You feel weak? Can you move?”

He tried to lift a hand and then gasped in pain. Sakura looked to the blade lying on the ground and then at Cat beside her. “Take the blade to the hospital. Find Usui and tell him I think it’s the same as before. He’ll know what I mean. Have the antidote ready on hand.”

He was gone in a flash and Sakura covered Yamato’s face with his mask, before picking him up in her arms. The rest of her ANBU looked at her in question and she broke into a run. They followed her footsteps instantly. “Find out how they got in.”

***

Sakura was surprised Yamato hadn’t lost consciousness, but he hadn’t been as exposed for as long as Kakashi had been. He looked up at her with a tired smile from the hospital bed. “Looks like your hunch was correct, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura felt herself laugh even as some tears spilled from her eyes. “Looks like it was.”

He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before asking, “How did you know what poison it was?”

“You reminded me how Kakashi looked.” Sakura looked down at the blanket over Yamato. “I don’t know why. Just the placement of the blade and how pale you were.”

“I don’t think that’s a coincidence.” Yamato’s voice was serious, worry settling in between his eyebrows.

“I don’t either.” Sakura glanced out the window then back to Yamato. She tried for a smile. _At least, he was okay._ “But I don’t want you to worry about that now. I’m heading over to I&T while you get some rest.”

He knew better than to argue with her but did insist. “You need to have your detail replaced while we recover – “

Sakura chuckled. “Your ANBU have already made the arrangements and even increased my guard. There are six on me right now.”

Yamato let out a relieved breath and sighed. “Everyone else is okay?”

Sakura nodded and grabbed another blanket from the cabinet. She laid it at his feet and patted his leg. “In case you get cold.”

He smiled at her as she stepped towards the door. “Thank you, Sakura-chan.”

***

As soon as Sakura walked into T&I, Sai appeared beside her out of uniform. A scolding was on the tip of her tongue before he gestured to himself. “I am not on guard right now and am recovering well, Sakura-chan.”

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek and waved for Sai to continue as they walked down the dark halls. “They got in through the west. We found two shinobi dead at their post.”

“Any other casualties?” Sakura asked, a tightness in her chest.

Sai shook his head. “Besides a few injuries during the assassination attempt, everyone is doing well. The other guardsmen don’t have any injuries besides to their pride.”

Sakura let out a relieved sigh. “That can be healed.”

Sai smiled with a nod, then continued as they turned a corner. “We highly suspect this is the extent of their operation and they were working alone.”

Sakura looked to him and Sai matched her gaze with certainty. “Reopen the gates, but I want the patrol to stay at high numbers and high alert until further notice.”

Sai nodded and Sakura asked, “What about the assassins? Have they given anything away?”

Sai shook his head, his jaw clenching. “No. Ino should be with one of them now. We have people analyzing the other body for any clues now, but I don’t think we’ll find much.”

Sakura nodded, not feeling any regret or guilt. They only needed one to interrogate and anyone who hurt her people should not expect any mercy.

When they finally reached the interrogation floor, Ino was walking down the hall with her heels clicking against the tile and her dark coat swaying with her. Her face was twisted in frustration but when she saw Sakura, it instantly melted, and she rushed towards her.

Sakura smiled at her as Ino grabbed her shoulders and looked her over. “You’re alright?” She caught sight of the scar on Sakura’s cheek and a mixture of anger and fear flashed in her eyes. Sakura knew her glare wasn’t directed at her when she met her eyes. “Why didn’t you heal this?”

Sakura shrugged as Ino ran a thumb across the scar, her healing chakra doing nothing to make it fade. “I didn’t have enough chakra after taking care of my ANBU and you know how they won’t heal after so much time.”

Ino nodded and visibly pushed down her worry. Her voice became harder as they went back to business. “I haven’t been able to get a motive out of her.”

Sakura began walking again, Ino and Sai by her side. “What have you learned?”

“Her name is Urahara Rukia. Age 28. She’s a rogue ninja from Kirigakure.”

Sakura’s eyebrows rose at that. Since the Fourth Mizukage, there had been a lot fewer rogue ninjas from the Land of Water, but Sakura supposed there would still be some.

When they reached the cell, Sakura looked over the woman behind the one-way glass. Her hair was choppy, scars littering across her visible skin, and cold eyes that were fixed on the corner. Sakura remembered them as the ones she had met earlier.

Ino spoke up beside her, “I need to grab something to eat and then I’ll take another crack at her, Sakura.”

Sakura looked back to Ino thoughtfully. “Maybe you should let me have a go at her.”

Ino’s eyes widened and she waved a hand at the cell. “There is no way in hell I am letting you in there!”

“Sai can go in with me.”

Ino glanced at Sai but still shook her head. “No. I am not letting you in a cell with your _assassin_ , Sakura- _sama_.”

Sakura tired for a smile, which only pissed Ino off, so she dropped it. She sighed. “Look, Ino, she tried to assassinate _me_. There is clearly something she has against me. Maybe she’ll give something away if I’m in there.”

“I am _not_ using as _bait_. Sakura, are you out of your mind?” Ino looked at her incredulously.

Sakura cocked an eyebrow at her. “Do you doubt your shinobi have successfully restrained her?”

Ino bit her lip and looked away from her, crossing her arms over her chest. After a moment, she turned back to her and pointed a finger at Sai. “Sai goes in with you and does _not_ leave. You understand me?”

Sakura nodded and moved to grab the handle on the door. She looked at Ino expectantly and she huffed before putting her hand on the lock, unlocking the door with her chakra. “I am staying here until you’re out.”

Sakura shot her a smile before slipping into the room with Sai at her heels.

Urahara looked at her in surprise and then smirked. “Did blondie give up? Had to send in the big guns?”

Sakura sat across from her, Sai going silently to the corner. She folded her arms to the table and Urahara leaned forward – as much as she could with her hands restrained behind the back of her chair. “I thought you might want to see me. Aren’t I the whole reason you’re here?”

She glared at her. “I’m not telling you anything.”

“I don’t see why you’re being so secretive. Do you really have anything to gain now that you’re alone?”

“I’m not alone.” Urahara rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. “I mean your friend is dead. Who else is there?”

Sakura watched as the color drained from her face. “Dead? She huffed. “You’re bluffing.”

Sakura held up her right hand and then slammed it back to the table. “No. I killed him with this hand. I remember very distinctively how his skull cracked when I slammed him to the ground. You must’ve already been restrained when I did it.”

Sakura leaned back in her chair and crossed her leg over the other. She waved a hand at Urahara's expression. “What did you expect? You attempted an assassination on a Kage. You’re only alive right now because I want to know why.”

Urahara’s eyes were glazed over. “Then, why would I give anything away to you?”

Sakura shrugged. “To stop the torture, end the suffering, the guilt of leading your friend to die? I don’t really care, but I’ll get what I want out of you one of another.”

She didn’t respond, her eyes now glaring at a dent in the table between them. Sakura waited a moment and then said, “I’ve been told you’re from the Kirigakure. What vengeance do you have against the Land of Fire? Were you hired?”

“I am not a paid thug.”

“A paid assassin?”

“What makes you think I was the leader between the two of us?” She looked back to Sakura.

“The look in your eyes.” Sakura watched her closely as Urahara tore her eyes away. “There was so much hatred there. It felt personal. Though, I’ve no idea why. I don’t know who you are.”

Urahara was silent but Sakura noticed her jaw clench. Sakura decided to follow her gut, hoping she wasn’t about to lose any progress she’d made. “Why did you try to kill Hatake Kakashi?”

Her eyes shot back to her and in her surprise, she blurted out, “He lived?”

At the confirmation, Sakura felt chakra direct itself to her first on instinct as her blood boiled. There must have been something in her face because Urahara recoiled back. Sakura tried to calm herself down, feeling Sai’s eyes on her. “He did.”

Urahara didn’t reply and Sakura asked, “Was it because of me?”

That familiar hatred was back as Urahara’s eyes went to hers as she answered, “Yes.”

A flash of a goofy smile and blonde hair went across Sakura’s mind and she felt her body move on its own. She’d thrown the table across the room and grabbed Urahara by her shirt, ripping her out of the chair and slamming her against the wall. She screamed in pain as the chakra bonds broke. Sakura’s voice dripped with a promised threat. “Are you alone?”

Urahara whimpered and didn’t answer as her hands came up to Sakura’s, desperately trying to loosen her grip. Sakura pressed her fingers against her throat and sent a surge of chakra to one of her sensitive points. The woman screamed and hot tears poured down her face. Sakura repeated, “I asked you a question. Are you alone? Now that I’ve killed your friend, are you alone?”

“Yes!” The answer ripped from her throat.

Sakura felt Sai at her shoulder but didn’t acknowledge him. She asked, her heart racing as she pinned this sobbing woman against the wall. “Why are you targeting my loved ones? Why did you try to assassinate me?”

“You” – Urahara’s voice cracked as she spoke, and she squeezed her eyes shut – “murdered my brother.”

Sakura could feel her heart pounding in her ears but didn’t let her grip loosen. “Who was your brother?”

“We were stealing from travelers a few years ago.” More tears rolled down her face as she talked. “You were assigned to guard a cart and we made the mistake of attacking you.”

Sakura didn’t know how to feel about not being able to remember this specific instance. The woman’s face didn’t bring up any distant memories and Sakura had been on countless missions like she described. Sakura huffed, pushing the ounce of sympathy she felt into a locked box. “Yeah, and I’m _sure_ he wasn’t trying to kill me and my people and was just going to ask for the goods with a kind smile.”

She didn’t reply and Sakura dropped her to the ground. Sakura hadn’t heard the door open, but there were instantly two shinobi on the floor next to her, replacing the chakra cuffs. Urahara looked up at her, that anger still prominent even behind the fear.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at her. “You chose to attack Kakashi, out of everyone I know, to hurt me before you killed me. Why?” The words felt sour on her tongue, but she said them anyway, “Why choose my old sensei?”

Urahara smirked. “Oh, is that all he is, Sakura-sama?”

Sakura barely controlled herself from punching her face into the wall and turned without another word out of the room. Sai closed the door behind them.

Sakura didn’t even glance at Ino as she continued walking, but her friend followed in her step. “Sakura –“

“We have a traitor.”


	17. Unbuckle Your Shoes

Sakura could see the concealed worry in Misaki’s eyes, but she nodded. “Of course, Sakura-sama. I’ll send out for an emergency council meeting. I would just like to clarify who you would like to be excluded?”

“The elders and Ayuzawa. Be very discreet, Misaki. It will just make matters worse if they find out.”

Misaki nodded with determination in her eyes and left the office.

Sakura sighed and all but collapsed in her chair. The office felt extremely quiet after the day she’d had, and her anxiety was climbing up the knots in her spine. Thoughts were racing through her mind and she wondered if it would make things worse or better if the guys were home. Her over-protectiveness won out over her selfishness and she decided it was better they hadn’t been here. _They had already attempted to kill Kakashi before and with the other two there also…_

Sakura shook the thought away, telling herself very few would be able to take out the ones she loved.

She ignored the following thought reminding her _where_ the guys were as Misaki walked back into her office. She bowed her head. “Ino-san has suggested we meet at T&I if you want to avoid suspicion. There is already reason for most of you to be there anyway.”

Sakura nodded and stood up from her desk. “Then, let’s go, Misaki.”

***

Part of Sakura felt warmed at how everyone checked in on her as they came into the meeting room, while the rest of her couldn’t escape the stress. After everyone settled themselves, Sakura didn’t wait long before beginning, “I know this is very short notice, but I felt the need to call for an emergency meeting.”

There was clear confusion at the three empty chairs and Sakura sighed. “Considering what we are about to discuss, I’ve only called upon the people I trust with every bone I have.”

Sakura didn’t really suspect Ayuzawa as much as she did the elders. But she didn’t really know her at the end of the day.

They nodded, the tension increasing in the room. Sakura let out a deep breath and chose to keep her eyes on Shikamaru across from her. “As you all have been made aware of, there was an assassination attempt on my life today. The targets have already been detained and dealt with. That is not necessarily what this meeting is about, though.”

Shikamaru’s eyebrows pulled together in worry and Sakura continued, “The one who was leader on my assassination has confessed her motives along with information that has made me believe there is a traitor in Konoha.”

There were surprised looks around the room besides Ino who had already been told. Shikamaru asked her, “Because of how they got in or is it something else, Sakura?”

“Something else.” Sakura nodded and felt her heart rate pick up a little. “Before there was an attempt on my life, there was an attempt on Kakashi’s.” Sakura looked away from Shikamaru and settled on Iruka. “Some of you may be surprised – well, maybe not. We’ve been more obvious about it the last month, but… Kakashi and I are in a relationship.”

Iruka’s eyes widened slightly, but there wasn’t any judgement there. “He was targeted to hurt you then, Sakura-chan?”

The name eased some of her tension and Sakura nodded. “But this was before Kakashi and I had even told each other our feelings.”

Shikamaru started to catch on to what she was saying. “Someone saw how close you were and connected the dots. It couldn’t have been anyone outside of the village.”

Sakura shook her head. “No, it couldn’t have.”

“The information was leaked to the assassin. From someone who had either infiltrated the village or was already here.” Ino concluded, “From our interrogations, I am leaning more towards the later unless they infiltrated years ago. So, someone else has motive to want to hurt Sakura.”

Shikamaru waved a hand as he leaned back in his chair with a tired sigh. “Do you have any suspects?”

Sakura opened her mouth but then there was an ANBU at her side. He leaned down to whisper into her ear, “Team Kakashi has returned from their mission successfully.”

Sakura gripped at her arm rests to keep from bolting from her chair. She swallowed and asked, “Any injuries?”

“Outside of chakra depletion, no, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura nodded and dismissed him, turning back to the council. “I don’t, Shikamaru.” She tried to ease the tension with a half-hearted smile. “Troublesome, isn’t it?”

He smiled back at her and then sighed. “Well, we got some work to do then. We can’t rule out that the motive is to hurt Kakashi considering his long history, he must have enemies.”

“Even if he was here, he wouldn’t be able to name them all. I wouldn’t have been able to name the one that just tried to kill me.”

Usui spoke up beside her, “We also can’t rule out that there will be a second attempt.”

Ino shook her head. “No, the assassins have been dealt with Usui-kun.”

Usui raised an eyebrow at her. “And you think this informant will be satisfied with today’s turn of events?” Ino’s eyes glanced at Sakura and back to Usui. “They could hire another assassin or even attempt something themselves.”

“Sakura’s guard has been increased along with the guardsmen at the gates,” Yamato tried for reassurance, still looking worse for wear. Sakura felt guilty for summoning him, but she needed him. She’d send him back to bed as soon as the meeting was over.

Usui shook his head and all eyes went to him. “It may not be such a noticeable attempt next time. If the informant happens to be a civilian, they could poison her food at a restaurant, and so on.”

“The kid’s got a point.” Shikamaru leaned forward on the table. “What do you propose we do?”

Usui glanced at Sakura and then down at his hands. Sakura felt her heart break at the worry in his face. She remembered how he’d been borderline hysterical when he’d been told about the assassination attempt. She never wanted him to worry after her like this. He shook his head. “I don’t know, Shikamaru. I just don’t want to see my sensei get hurt.”

Sakura reached out and put a hand in his under the table as Iruka told him quietly, “None of us do.”

***

Sakura finally adjourned the meeting a couple hours later, since they weren’t getting anywhere. There still wasn’t a plan in action on how to proceed outside of the increased guard, which Sakura didn’t want to last forever. Ino was still working on getting more out of Urahara but she said not to hold out too much hope because the woman didn’t seem to know about the informant outside of notes she’d received anonymously. No one said it out loud, but she was sure they were all thinking the best-case scenario was another attempt so they could find the source. It was a harsh reality, but Sakura preferred it to looking over her shoulder the rest of her life.

She immediately went to the hospital with Usui afterwards, barely containing herself from running through the halls until she found their rooms. Naruto had been the only one admitted but she was sure Kakashi and Sasuke were there. Despite how she had walked there, she felt out of breath when she finally entered his room.

Naruto was grumbling on the bed with Sasuke sitting in the chair next to him, his feet crossed on the edge of the bed. Kakashi stood by the window, looking exhausted – but Sakura suspected it was the constant bickering more than anything else.

“You _have_ to stay here, dobe.” Sasuke rolled his eyes, his foot kicking at Naruto’s hand as he tried to knock his feet off. “I don’t care how much chakra you have. You managed to almost deplete almost _all_ of it and yeah, you may recover quicker than anyone else in the god damn world, but you still haven’t recovered _yet_. So, _shut the hell up_.”

“Look, you bastard – “

Naruto cut off at hearing Sakura’s laugh at the door, having not even noticed the door open. “Sakura-chan!”

Sakura smiled at him, barely aware there were tears at the corners of her eyes. “He’s right you know. Stop acting like a brat.”

“But Sakura-chan – “ Naruto stopped as Sakura’s arms came around him, practically falling against his chest. He hugged her back and told her softly, “Sorry, I’m late, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura let a cry slip out against his chest and he squeezed her tighter. She’d blame it on almost getting assassinated but knew it was out of complete stress from worrying if her best friend would ever come home. “Idiot.”

Naruto chuckled and Sakura gave herself a minute before pulling away from him. She looked to Sasuke and Kakashi. “How are you two? They said you were fine, but – “

“We’re okay, Sakura-chan.” Sakura felt her remaining stress slip away at the sound of his voice.

She smiled at him and then tore her eyes away from Kakashi to look at Sasuke. He was frowning at her and she looked at him in concern. “Sasuke-kun?”

He got up from his chair and came over to her, taking her chin in his hand and turning her face. “Sakura, where did this scar come from? You always heal any cuts to your face from a spar.”

_Shit, she forgot about the damn scar._

She’d wanted to at least give them a little time before telling them. She met Sasuke’s eyes hesitantly. “Sasuke, I’m _fine_.”

His eyes widened and she could see the gears turning in his head but before he could speak, Kakashi had moved and turned her towards him by the shoulder. His hand came up to her face, his thumb gently going across the scar. “Sakura.”

Sakura stepped back and looked at the floor, squeezing her eyes shut and willing herself to not turn into a sobbing mess. She had expected the guilt when she saw Kakashi but hadn’t thought it would fill her lungs and choke her. She let out a breath to steady herself and looked up at them. “There… was an attempt on my life.”

Sasuke cursed and turned away from her to pace at the foot of the bed. Kakashi grabbed her shoulders and checked her over. She assured him softly, “I’m okay, Kakashi.”

The worry didn’t leave his eyes even as anger mixed with it. “In the village? Did you – “

“The assassins were dealt with and yes, it was as I was leaving the hospital.”

“What about your ANBU guard?” Sasuke was back in front of her. “I should’ve – “

A resounding slap filled the room and Sasuke looked at her in shock with a red handprint across his face. “Don’t you _dare_. You were one of the reasons Naruto was able to come home!”

Naruto spoke up hesitantly from the bed, “Sakura-chan, don’t – “

“No.” Sakura spared him a glance before looking back to Sasuke. “The ANBU protected me with their lives, Sasuke. Show them some respect! I probably could’ve held my own without them, but you never know. And I will not have you doubting them.”

Sasuke nodded and Sakura let him pull her into his arms. He held her tightly as he spoke into her shoulder. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Sakura. I’m just – I wish I could’ve been there to help.”

Sakura felt her anger leave her and met Kakashi’s eyes whose anger hadn’t quelled in the slightest. Sasuke pulled away from her and Kakashi asked what they were all probably wondering, “Why did they do it?”

“Revenge.” Sakura let out a humorless chuckle with a shrug. “I killed her brother a few years ago on a mission. I’m honestly relieved it was nothing that was going to start a war.”

Naruto sighed from the bed and tried for a smile as she looked at him. “Well, at least it’s over, huh, Sakura-chan? And you’re alright?”

Sakura nodded and he noticed her hesitance. “What is it?”

Sakura bit her lip and looked back to Kakashi. “She knew about us.”

“What?” Kakashi looked at her confused. “Why does that – “

She watched as it came to him and said aloud for the rest of the room, not able to look at Kakashi anymore. “It’s why you were attacked with that poison blade.”

“We have a rat,” Sasuke bit out, sitting on the edge of Naruto’s bed with a drawn out breath.

Naruto got tired of sitting quietly and got up from the bed and walked over to her. “You think there’s someone _still_ trying to hurt you?”

“I know there is.” Sakura looked down, a feeling like rope tightening around her heart overwhelmed her. “Or Kakashi.”

Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but Sakura looked back to him with a smile and cut him off, “But that’s something to worry about for later. I’m very guarded and the village is on high alert, Naruto. _You_ need to get back to resting.”

“You can’t be serious right now!” Naruto waved his arms at her incredulously.

“I am very serious. There’s not anything we can do right now besides look through clues and T&I is already on it.” Sakura put a hand to Naruto’s chest and pushed him gently but forcibly towards the bed.

She stepped back towards the door and sent Naruto a serious look. “Usui is your medic. Don’t let _anyone_ look at you besides him.”

He called out to her as she closed the door, but Sakura had to get away from it all. She felt Kakashi follow after her, thankful Sasuke had seemed to decide to stay with Naruto. Kakashi’s hand was at her elbow by the time she’d reached the corner. “Sakura, can you wait a second?”

Sakura let him pull her to a stop, medics bussing around them as she looked up at him, feeling tears well up in her eyes. Kakashi’s face softened and she felt like she would break when he took her face in her hands. She reached up and wrapped a hand around one of his and pleaded, “Not here.”

Kakashi nodded and took the hat dangling from her back, placing it on her head. Sakura felt herself smile despite everything and Kakashi interlocked their fingers, leading her out of the hospital.

***

They went to Kakashi’s apartment since it was closer, and Sakura felt the wall she had built up during the day shatter as Kakashi closed the door. Tears poured silently down her face and she didn’t even bother to wipe them away as Kakashi took off her hat and robes, hanging them on his coat rack. The tenderness of him kneeling down to unbuckle her shoes made any remaining control on her emotions fail and she dropped to her knees.

Kakashi pulled down his mask and pulled her hands away from her face. “Hey, hey, Sakura, look at me.”

Sakura did and at seeing his worried smile, reached out for him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck as she buried her face into the side of his neck. “I’m sorry, Kakashi. I’m so sorry.”

Kakashi held her close to him, kissing her temple. “What’re you sorry for?”

“It’s my fault.” Sakura choked out, her breathing becoming uneven as she cried. “It was my fault.”

Kakashi adjusted her and picked her up, then walked to his bedroom. Sakura babbled unintelligibly as he tried to shush her. “She tried to kill you because of me. Because I loved you – because I love you –“

He laid her on the bed, reaching down to take off her shoes as her arms were still locked around his neck. He kicked off his own and took off his head band, tossing it to the other side of the bed. Then, he pulled her close to him and rolled onto his back, so she was to his chest. A hand went up and down her back. His voice was soothing as he tried to comfort her, “Sakura, it’s not your fault.”

She nodded against him, her hands moving down to grip at his shirt. “It is.”

“Someone deciding to kill someone you love is not your fault.”

A part of Sakura knew the reasoning, understood it, and even accepted it. But she couldn’t convince the rest of her, the parts that felt guilt swallowing her whole and leaving her in the dark. The parts that wondered if she even deserved Kakashi after he almost died because of her.

She picked up her head off his chest and looked at his face, cracks forming in her heart at the pain in his face knowing it was for her. Her voice shook as hot tears ran over her lips. “I _felt_ your heartbeat _slipping_ from my fingers, Kakashi. Do you have _any_ idea how that feels? And it was because someone hated _me_ so much, they wanted to hurt me by using _you_.”

One of Kakashi’s hands moved to the back of her head and he leaned up to kiss her cheeks. Sakura moved a hand over his, closing her eyes as her chest shook. He told her quietly, “Do you know how many bingo books my name is in? How I’ve already thought about this exact thing happening but in reverse?”

Sakura opened her eyes to look at him. He smiled warmly at her; his eyes still sad as they searched hers. “I don’t want you to hurt, Sakura. I love you. But if it were to always play out this way, I would die happy.” He brought her face closer to him and kissed her lips. His voice became softer. “It’s selfish. But I don’t want you to ever be hurt because of me.”

Sakura rolled her eyes at him as she sniffed, feeling the muscles in her cheeks almost twitch into a smile. “It doesn’t have to be one way or the other.”

“It doesn’t.” He smiled at her, his thumbs wiping away at her tears. “And I’m _okay_ , Sakura. I’m with you, right here.” He grabbed one of her hands and put it over his chest above his heart. “You made sure of that.”

Sakura’s heart beat painfully in her chest and she met his lips with a tired smile. “I love you.”

He kissed her back then moved his lips to press against the scar on her cheek. He turned her on her side, Sakura’s head hitting the pillow as he began kissing all over her face. Sakura caught his lips every time they went by and she slowly began to relax into the bed.

Sakura fell asleep with the memories of his kisses burned into her skin.


	18. Sunflowers and a Blessing

Life continued on – well, as much as it could with Sakura always aware of six ANBU guarding her at all times. She’d noticed Sasuke trying to pick up more than two shifts and nearly beat him over the head about it. She couldn’t help the guilt, knowing the ANBU were running thin trying to always cover her. It only made her push harder in trying to unmask the informant. They’d uncovered some of the anonymous letters that had been shared with Urahara.

Sakura almost tore the first one into pieces when Ino shared it with her. Words across the page convincing Urahara disposing of Kakashi was the best way to hurt Sakura. A list of missions Kakashi had been assigned were in another letter and Sakura almost ripped the mission desk in half when she found out. Iruka’s hand on her shoulder as she explained to him how Urahara had known when and where to attack Kakashi was the only thing that kept her from taking her anger out on likely innocent shinobi. She placed stricter rules on the filing of mission assignments; less personel having access to Records and more intricate chakra locks on doors and filing cabinets. For the time being, outside of his teammates and himself, she would be the only person to know the details of Kakashi’s missions.

It became increasingly clear the traitor was targeting Kakashi and not herself. Kakashi was relieved about it but tried to not show it in front of her, having learned it only made her more upset.

Sakura appreciated how much everyone worried about her, but the constant company was starting to drain her, and she’d taken to slipping into trees and walking along rooftops to avoid people much to her ANBU guards’ annoyance.

Sakura looked at the guard at her door tiredly. “Do not let anyone in besides Naruto and Kakashi. I am not in the mood for any more friendly visits. Only if it’s clearly business.”

The guard nodded. “Of course, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura went inside her office and Misaki looked up at her with an apologetic face. Sakura sighed and pulled on her robes. “What is it, Misaki-chan?”

“The elders are wanting to know when the next council meeting is. Considering… recent events, they’re becoming agitated there hasn’t been any meetings.”

Sakura waved a hand and tried to remind herself there was probably _some_ concern in their agitation. “Schedule one for tomorrow. I am too tired today to put on a face for them.”

Misaki nodded and pulled a blank scroll to write the notice on. “Sakura-sama, would you like some tea?”

Sakura sent her a smile at the odd habit they had formed when either or both of them had become stressed. “Please, Misaki-chan.”

After writing the letter, Misaki quickly went to fetch them tea. She came back and Sakura accepted the warmth in her hands like a lifeline. Misaki gave her a worried smile. “Sakura-sama, perhaps you should take the day to rest.”

Sakura took a drink of her tea and smiled. “Misaki-chan, you make my tea better than I do.”

Misaki chided, “ _Sakura-sama._ ” 

Sakura hummed and picked up the scroll she hadn’t finished reading the night before. “There is too much work to be done. We need to put this behind us as much as we can while still moving forward. I want the school to be ready when fall comes and there is still so much to prepare.”

Misaki sighed but nodded and went to her desk, going back to her work as Sakura read through the course outlines Iruka had planned.

It was a couple hours later when the door opened. Sakura looked up reluctantly only to see Ino carrying a vase of flowers with a guard behind her. He shrugged at her, a lopsided grin on his face. “I thought you might allow this visitor, Hokage-sama.”

Ino smiled, her flower shop apron giving off such a different aura than the dark coat she wore when she was working Intelligence. She placed the vase of sunflowers on her desk and handed her a small envelope. “I know we’re all probably driving you crazy, but just know we love you and are trying to keep you safe.”

Sakura felt warmth rush through her veins as her eyes went to the vase of flowers perfectly arranged by Ino with a red ribbon tied delicately around the glass. She smiled at Ino, a blush on her cheeks. “Thank you, Ino. I love you guys too.”

Ino nodded and winked as she stepped backwards. “See you around, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura watched her leave and then gently opened the envelope, pulling the small letter out.

_Sakura-sama,_

_I know you are very busy and are probably starting to get annoyed at me sticking by you like we have a red string tying us together. But I thought you might need something to lighten up your day. Ino had thought I would pick out roses, teasing me about being a closeted romantic – what have you been telling her? But I thought about you laying in a field of wildflowers or looking up with a smile at flowers that towered over you. Sunflowers seem like such happy flowers, don’t they? Growing tall with beautiful oranges and yellows. Did you know when there is no sun, they face each other? Now that is romantic._

_I love you. Don’t work too hard._

_Yours,_

_Kakashi_

Sakura laughed softly to herself and tucked the letter back inside the envelope, propping it up against the vase. Misaki sent her knowing looks all day because of her goofy smile but Sakura didn’t really care.

***

Sakura knew more of the civilians had warmed to her with the addition of a representative for them to her council. But she still hadn’t expected this.

She’d been walking home, alone for once, when she heard someone call out to her, “Hokage-sama?”

Sakura placed a smile on her face and turned around to see an elderly woman hurrying towards her. She laughed lightly when she reached her. “I almost thought I’d missed you.”

Sakura recognized her as the owner of the shop she usually bought her produce from. She felt her smile turn more sincere and she asked her, “Is something wrong, Yuki-baasan?”

Yuki smiled at her and reached out for one of her hands. “I wanted you to know that my family and I – anyone I speak to really – are very happy you’re okay, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura's lips parted in surprise and then she squeezed her hand. “Thank you. I’m just glad none of the civilians had been involved.”

Yuki let go of her hand and handed her a woven basket. Sakura took it confused, surprised by its weight. “What is –“

Yuki waved a wand at her, her eyes affectionate. “That is for you, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura pulled back the towel on top to see all the produce she usually bought from Yuki’s shop. “Yuki-baasan, you don’t have to –“

Yuki shook her head and grabbed Sakura’s hand on the basket, pushing it towards her. “Consider it a token of appreciation or a get-well-soon basket. Whatever you like. I just wanted to show you my gratitude for you protecting our village and relief that you are okay, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura felt her breath catch in her throat and she nodded with a small laugh. She reached out for Yuki’s hand and squeezed it again. “I will happily protect our village for the rest of my life, Yuki-baasan. Thank you very much for the gift.”

Yuki smiled and bowed her head, before turning away from her down the street. Sakura turned back the way home, gripping the small basket in her hand. Her chest felt tight as she walked but it wasn’t really in a bad way.

***

Sakura didn’t look up when the door opened, her focus on the medical training program in front of her as she marked over it in red ink. Sakura waited for Misaki to greet them and then remembered she’d convinced her to go home before her for once. “I am very busy right now. If you could come back – “

Sakura glanced up and her mouth parted in a gasp.

“Too busy for your old shishou?” Tsunade grinned at her, a hand on her hip.

Sakura laughed and got up from her desk, running into Tsunade’s arms like a little girl. Tsunade chuckled and hugged her back.

Sakura leaned back to look up at her with a smile. “What’re you doing back? Your last letter said you weren’t planning to visit until the spring?”

Tsunade huffed. “That was the plan until I heard my student was almost _assassinated_. What the hell, Sakura? Trying to make your reign more exciting than mine?”

Sakura sighed and pulled away from her, walking back to her desk. “You didn’t have to come all the way back just for that.”

Tsunade scoffed and went behind the desk to lean beside her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. “Well, _excuse me_ for being worried and wanting to check in on you.”

Sakura sighed and looked up at her apologetically. “Sorry, I just… am still stressed about the whole thing. I don’t have much good news to tell you besides that I’m alive and the assassins were dealt with.”

Tsunade waved a hand and raised an eyebrow. “What is the bad news about that?”

Sakura laughed quietly and opened one of the bottom drawers of her desk. She pulled out a sake bottle. “You might want to have a drink before we get into it.”

“That does not bode well.” Tsunade sighed and reached down into the drawer grabbing two cups. “I can’t believe you kept this.”

“Never know when you’ll need it,” Sakura parroted the words Tsunade used to tell her when Sakura would find hidden bottles in her office.

Tsunade chuckled and went to sit down in a chair, propping her heels up on Sakura’s desk. Sakura poured her a cup and went around the desk to sit beside her, handing it to her. Tsunade took a drink and settled comfortably in the chair. “Well, don’t keep me on the edge of my seat, Sakura.”

Tsunade reacted about as much as she had suspected. She glared to the side as she leaned her elbow on the armrest, her face in her hand. “Have you made any progress on suspects?”

“No.” Sakura looked down at her own cup in frustration.

Tsunade sighed and rubbed in between her eyebrows. “Well, I’m sure T&I is doing everything they can.” She offered her a small smile. “I know this must be frustrating for you to just wait in the unknown.”

Sakura nodded with a half-smile and took a drink of her sake.

Tsunade sat up, her heels clinking against the floor as she leaned towards Sakura. She had a sly grin on her face and Sakura felt trepidation run up her spine. “So, _Kakashi_ , huh?”

_There’s the reaction she’d been waiting for._

Sakura looked at her annoyed, pink dusting her cheeks. “Really, shishou?”

“What?” Tsunade laughed heartily, a glint in her eyes. “You don’t talk to your actual mother, so who else is supposed to talk to you about this?”

Sakura stood up from the chair and escaped her devilish grin, going back to her desk. “I assure you I get teased _plenty_ about Kakashi.”

Tsunade leaned back in her chair, sipping from her cup with a smile. “Naruto and Sasuke don’t count. And I am not _teasing_ you, Sakura.”

Sakura raised an eyebrow at her and Tsunade relented with a small shrug. “Okay, maybe a little.”

Sakura rolled her eyes at her but couldn’t fight a smile. She sighed as she sat down. “What do you want to know?”

“Is he good in bed?” Tsunade asked after a few seconds.

“ _Shishou_!” Sakura felt her face flame and Tsunade barked out a laugh.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.” Tsunade waved a hand in front of her, fighting back more laughter. She shrugged a shoulder. “So, when did it start?”

Sakura glared at her, still embarrassed and thought before answering, “When I became Hokage.” She shook her head after saying it, looking to the side. “Or maybe before then.”

Tsunade snorted. “Great answer, Sakura.”

“Well, I don’t know.” Sakura mirrored Tsunade’s earlier pose and propped her feet up on the desk, crossing her arms. “He’s just always been there for me. Maybe something had shifted between us a long time ago and I didn’t notice until months ago.”

Tsunade hummed and Sakura glanced at her to see most of the humor had left her face, replaced with a warmness she usually reserved for Sakura. “Earlier you said it was before you got together. How did that happen then?”

Sakura chuckled dryly. “Kakashi confessed to me as he almost died that night.”

“Sounds like him.” Tsunade shook her head and looked down at her cup, then back to Sakura. “What a brat.”

Sakura laughed and moved to pour Tsunade another cup. “He did apologize about it.”

Tsunade rolled her eyes and took another drink. She let out a content breath and asked, “You love him?”

“Yes.” Sakura felt herself smile, the answer spilling easily from her lips.

Tsunade smiled and raised an eyebrow at the flowers. “Those from him?”

Sakura nodded, glancing at the sunflowers and Tsunade mumbled into her cup, “Couple of saps.”

Before Sakura could reply, the door to her office opened. “Sakura-chan, how long – “

Kakashi cut off in surprise at seeing Tsunade sitting in a guest chair. She cocked an eyebrow at him, sitting up straighter. Kakashi glanced to Sakura, before chuckling nervously and taking a step back into the hall. “Mah, I’ll just see you later, Sakura.”

“Shishou, don’t – “

***

“Is this really necessary?” Kakashi asked for the third time as he walked to the end of the training ground.

“Don’t let baa-chan kick your ass, Kakashi!” Naruto cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled with a wide smile.

Sakura laughed next to him at their spot by the tree. Kakashi looked over at her in betrayal and she shrugged with a smile.

“Oh, come on, _Copy-nin_.” Tsunade grinned from her spot at the other end of the field. “Scared of an old woman?”

“When she’s the _Godaime_ maybe, I’m not an idiot.” Kakashi rolled his eyes at her, slipping his hands in his pockets.

“And you’re dating the _Rokudaime_ , brat. _My_ apprentice, need I remind you.” Tsunade put a hand on her hip and waved the other towards Sakura.

“So what?” Kakashi huffed and looked at her incredulously. “Do you want to kill me over it?”

Tsunade chuckled and shrugged. “No, but maybe if you win, I’ll give you my blessing.” 

Kakashi glared at her and then looked over at Sakura. Sakura shrugged and called out with an amused smile, “You know I’ll love you no matter what, Kakashi.”

Kakashi sighed and looked up at the sky. After a moment, he looked back to Tsunade and shook his head. “Fine.” 

Tsunade smirked as soon as his hands left his pockets. She tapped the ground with her foot and the ground Kakashi had just been standing on flew up. Kakashi darted to the side and Tsunade blocked his attack a second later.

The fight went on as Sakura watched leaning against the tree, a small smile on her face. Naruto yelled out random encouragements by her side, completely entertained. Sakura rolled her eyes fondly, thinking back to Naruto asking if he could come along when he ran into them walking to the training ground.

It was a _good_ fight and Sakura could already hear the groans of the groundskeepers when they find Training Ground 4 in the morning. The ground was torn up, trees split in the trunks, scorch marks along the grass. Tsunade and Kakashi didn’t look much better with cuts across their skin and tears in their clothes.

Pants filled the air along with the sound of blades and ground breaking. They breathed heavily as they came to blows and Sakura watched as the sun set behind them.

Kakashi looked down at her in surprise as his kunai went to her throat as he pinned her down. Tsunade panted beneath him. “I give, Kakashi, now get off me.”

Kakashi rolled off her and onto the ground as he tried to catch his breath. He closed his eyes, feeling his muscles ache. “You let me win.”

Tsunade laughed beside him. “You already had my blessing.”

Kakashi opened his eyes and turned his head towards her. Tsunade smiled at him as she breathed. “I just wanted to give you a little hell for it.”

Kakashi groaned and put his arm over his eyes. “You’re insane.”

She laughed again and got to her feet. She kicked one of his feet and Kakashi looked up at her to see her holding out her hand. “Come on.”

Kakashi grabbed her hand and let her pull him to his feet. They walked over to Sakura and Naruto, Kakashi collapsing to the ground and laying his head in Sakura’s lap.

She chuckled above him, laying her hand over his chest and combing her fingers through his hair. Naruto held a hand up above him and Kakashi rolled his eyes but gave him the high five.

Tsunade ruffled Naruto’s hair, slipping her jacket back on. “Come on, Naruto. Why don’t you buy me some dinner? I’ll even let you take me to that ramen place you like so much.”

Naruto grumbled, but said his goodbyes and followed Tsunade off the field.

Sakura smiled down at Kakashi, her fingers trailing across his skin and healing bruises and cuts. He sighed and closed his eyes contently. Sakura told him teasingly, “Congratulations on your win, Kakashi. What ever will you do with your prize?”

“You know she let me win,” Kakashi breathed out but Sakura’s smile didn’t fall.

“Then didn’t you still win?”

Kakashi peeked an eye at her and Sakura felt a flood of warmth rush through her as he smiled. He closed his eye and let out a breath, reaching for her hand and interlacing their fingers. “Let me catch my breath and then I’ll show you what I’ll do with my prize.”


	19. Some Muscle Relaxers

Tsunade had a small smile on her face as Sakura told her about what she had been doing over the past few months. She asked her for advice with the medical training program she had drawn up, showing her a course plan. “I was thinking of either training teachers or having some medics go under educational training. What do you think?” Sakura looked to her with an excited grin.

Tsunade had a soft look on her face as she crossed her leg over the other and leaned back against her chair. “I think I was right all along.”

Sakura looked at her confused and Tsunade’s smile widened, her eyes glazed over. “You’re a _great_ Hokage. Much better than I ever was and only in a few months. Doing everything I was too tired to or didn’t have enough courage for.”

Sakura felt her cheeks warm and looked down at her desk.

“I’m _so_ proud of you, Sakura.” The crack in her voice made Sakura look back up, surprised to see a couple tears roll down her face. Tsunade laughed and brushed her tears away. “Look at me, a big emotional mess in my old age.”

Sakura smiled and went around the desk to hug her. Tsunade stood up to bring her closer and Sakura admonished, “Stop calling yourself old, shishou.”

Tsunade chuckled and kissed the top of her head. Sakura mumbled against her chest. “Thank you.”

***

Tsunade left a few days later and Sakura was already missing her as she added the finishing touches to her medical training plan. She sighed and glanced at Misaki as she stood up from the desk, gathering her papers. “I’m going to go see Usui, Misaki-chan. I’ll be back after lunch.”

Misaki nodded and Sakura made her way to the hospital. As she walked through the doors, she caught sight of blonde hair going through the Emergency Ward doors. Her feet ran after him and she grabbed onto Naruto’s jacket seconds later. “Naruto, what’re you doing here? Are you alright?”

Naruto’s eyes widened at the sight of her and he chuckled nervously. “Um, you see, Sakura-chan, the thing is –“

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose as she sighed, recognizing the expression. “What did you do?”

“Well, first off he should’ve dodged better –” Naruto started defensively and at Sakura’s glare, sighed and pointed down the hall. “I may have broken Kakashi’s arm.”

Sakura huffed and instantly started down the hall with Naruto at her heels. “Why didn’t he just come see me?”

  
“I told him to!” Naruto held his hands out. “He said he didn’t want to bother you.”

Sakura fought back a groan. _Would he ever learn?_ She turned to Naruto after he led her to Kakashi’s room. “Well, thank you for telling me, Naruto.”

Naruto smiled at her and took a step back. “I’ll come see him after you’ve cooled him down.” He sent her a wink and then back down the hall.

Sakura rolled her eyes but had a smile as she walked into Kakashi’s room.

He looked up at her in mild surprise and then narrowed his eyes, but Sakura could see the smile behind his mask. “How do you keep doing that?”

“How do you keep hurting yourself and not coming to see me?”

Kakashi looked down at the arm he had cradled to his chest. “I didn’t want to bother you. The medic said she’d fix it right up and I could be on my way.”

Sakura let the argument go and saw his chart on the counter. She grabbed it and glanced through it. “Where did she go?”

“She said something about some new muscle relaxers, so my arm doesn’t feel sore afterwards.”

Sakura’s fingers stopped as she turned a page and looked at Kakashi confused. “New muscles relaxers? I haven’t heard anything about new muscles relaxers.”

Kakashi met her eyes and she could tell that he had already thought it was strange. He tried to assure her, “I would’ve had you look at them before taking them.”

Sakura looked back down at the writing on the chart and flipped back to the first page. Something cold ran through her veins as she looked at the handwriting of _Hatake Kakashi_. It was quickly replaced by something hot as her hand gripped the clipboard so hard it almost broke.

Kakashi stood up from the bed and came over to her worriedly. “Sakura?”

Sakura smiled at him and then leaned up to kiss him. “Go sit back down. I’ll be right back. I’m going to go ask the medic about the muscle relaxers.”

She didn’t wait for his response and left the room, closing the door behind her. She knew Kakashi would probably only wait thirty seconds before following after her, so she tried to make the most of it.

Luckily, the person she was looking for was around the first corner she turned. “Usui!”

He looked up at her in surprise, then smiled. “Sakura-sensei! What –“

“Where’s Nagoya-san?” Sakura interrupted him.

“I just saw her down the hall. She was going towards the medicine stock – “

Sakura didn’t wait for him to finish and hurried down the hall, some of the medics looking at her in concern as she pushed passed them. Sakura’s heart was racing as she reached the stock room. She opened the door to see the long dark hair she’d been looking for. “Nagoya-san?”

The woman jumped but it was barely noticeable. She turned to her with a smile. “Sakura-sama, what can I do for you?”

Sakura kept her eyes on Nagoya’s face even as she noticed her slip something into her pocket. She smiled and held up Kakashi’s chart. “Naruto came and got me when Kakashi broke his arm. I want to look after him myself. I’m sure you won’t mind?”

Nagoya shook her head. “Of course not, Sakura-sama. I understand.”

Sakura nodded and grinned. “Great!” She looked down at her chart as Nagoya shifted in front of her. “I just had a couple questions about his chart…” Sakura chuckled and looked up at her apologetically. “It’s always been hard for me to read other people’s handwriting when it curves like yours does – you did write the chart out, right? Not an assistant? Because I can just go find whoever – “

Nagoya cut her off and leaned beside her to look at the chart. “No need. I’m the one who wrote it.”

Disappointment and relief mixed uncomfortably in the pit of Sakura’s stomach. She let out a short breath and said, “Snake.”

Nagoya barely had time to look at her confused before her hands were pinned behind her back and a kunai to her throat. Sakura watched as her eyes widened and Sakura let the chart fall from her hands to clatter loudly against the floor.

“Sakura-sama!” Nagoya cried, her arms helplessly trying to free herself from Sasuke’s grasp. “I didn’t mean for it to happen! I swear!”

Sakura stepped towards her and it only increased Nagoya’s cries. “ _Sakura-sama_ , I didn’t think they would be able to get in and attack you.”

Sakura nodded; her voice quiet. “You only wanted them to hurt Kakashi.”

Nagoya’s jaw clenched and she swallowed as she looked at her. Her voice shook as she said, “I didn’t want them to hurt you. I’ve respected you so much all these years, Sakura. I _swear_ I thought it would end with him.”

This felt so different from Urahara. To have someone you’d worked with for years, someone you had fought alongside, betray you. It hurt as much as it made her angry. Sakura felt so _unsatisfied_ from finally being freed from this constant stress. She hadn’t expected it to feel _good_ , but certainly hadn’t expected the mix of emotions that were climbing up her throat and tasting bitter on her tongue.

She met Nagoya’s eyes, seeing the fear there and only feeling hurt by it. _How dare she?_ Sakura’s voice felt eerily calm as she spoke, “You’ve betrayed your Hokage, Minori.” Sakura talked over her cries that were quickly turning into sobs. “You’ve betrayed Konoha.”

Sakura looked away from her and went to the door. “Take her away.”

She ignored the following scream, as it cut off as soon as she closed the door. 

All eyes were on her as the door shut and she could see Usui and Kakashi rushing towards her down the hall. Kakashi reached her first, his hand going to her arm. “Where –“

Sakura shook her head. “ANBU is handling it.” She looked to Usui and tried to give him a reassuring smile. “Follow us back to Kakashi’s room.”

Usui nodded and she ignored the questioning looks that were sent her way as they went back to the room. Sakura prodded him towards the bed and grabbed his broken arm gently in hers. She looked at his face. “Ready?”

He nodded and took in a deep breath before Sakura sent the healing chakra through him. The bigger bones always hurt more when being healed and she wasn’t surprised when Kakashi’s free hand gripped at her coat.

Usui waited patiently – if shifting anxiously from foot to foot could be considered patient – and when Sakura was finally finished healing, she looked to them both. “The traitor was Nagoya Minori.”

Kakashi’s eyes widened and his voice was quiet as he asked, “You don’t think…?”

Sakura shook her head, a weight in her chest. “No, but I’m going to talk to her.”

“How did you know?” Usui asked beside her.

“The handwriting matched the letters and I’m pretty sure she was about to try and poison Kakashi with something under the guise of muscle relaxers.”

Usui paled and he looked to Kakashi. “Hatake-san, if I had suspected her at all – I’m sorry - no, I should’ve assigned myself to you, anyway. I –“

Sakura grabbed his shoulder. “Hey, don’t do that. It’s not your fault. Kakashi wouldn’t have taken anything anyway.”

Usui sighed and combed his fingers through his messy hair. “What do you need me to do, sensei?”

***

Sakura’s feet felt heavy as she walked to her office, her heart pounding out of rhythm in her chest. The guard at the door looked at her in concern as she hesitated with her hand on the handle. She gave him what she hoped was a smile before finally walking in.

Misaki looked up at her with a smile then back down to her paperwork. “Sakura-sama, how was your visit with Usui? I can make us some tea if you’d like?”

Sakura swallowed thickly as she approached Misaki’s desk. “Well, we’ve discovered who the traitor was.”

Misaki’s eyes widened and she got up from the desk to move in front of Sakura, looking her over. “You did? How? Was there another attempt – “

Sakura let out a deep breath. “Misaki, you and your sister were a couple of the shinobi that came to help during the rebuilding after the war and ended up staying, right? You were from Iwagakure, weren’t you?”

Misaki looked at her confused. “Yes, why are you – “ She gasped and started to shake her head as tears built up in her eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand. “She didn’t. No, no, no. Not - not Minori.”

Sakura’s eyes went to the floor, relieved by the surprise on Misaki’s face but still not entirely comforted by it. Misaki took her silence as an answer. Her voice broke. “Can – can I see her?”

Sakura shook her head. “No. I’ll see what I can do after she’s been processed.”

Misaki fell to her knees in front of her. “What’s going to happen to her?”

“She’ll either be sentenced to death or life in prison,” Sakura told her in a quiet voice. It was blunt, but Misaki already knew before asking.

Misaki buried her face in her hands as more cries escaped from her throat. Sakura’s heart squeezed painfully, and she kneeled in front of her, grabbing her hands. Misaki looked at her, her eyes red and Sakura watched as it occurred to her. She turned her hands in Sakura’s and gripped them tightly. “Sakura, you know I didn’t – I didn’t know about any of this – I never – I would _never_ – “

Sakura nodded; her voice felt too thick to answer. Misaki kept talking. “I never – I – I mentioned maybe _once_ that – that you and Kakashi looked good together – but I never – “ She let go of Sakura’s hands and covered her face again, her voice barely audible. “Kami, it’s my fault – I shouldn’t have even – “

Sakura pulled her to her chest and hugged her tightly. “I know, Misaki. I trust you.”

Misaki cried into her shoulder, her hands gripping at her robes. “I’m so sorry.”

Sakura shook her head against her. “You didn’t do anything, Misaki.”

Misaki pulled away from her. “I should’ve checked in on her more. I had no idea she even – “ Misaki closed her eyes and got her breathing under control before telling her, “Our father became a rogue ninja when we were young. I never – he wasn’t a very good man – but Minori’s younger than me so she may not remember. We didn’t go with him when he deflected. But we heard rumors…”

Sakura concluded for her, “Kakashi killed him?”

Misaki nodded and let out a shaky breath. “His name was in so many bingo books and I… never wanted to know what he was doing to earn it. It was why I changed our last name. I didn’t – I never would’ve imagined Minori has held a grudge about it all these years. I should’ve told her more about him. He wasn’t someone who deserved avenging.”

_At least everything had finally come together._

Sakura sighed and moved to get up, a hand under Misaki’s elbow to bring her with her. “You won’t be allowed with me for these upcoming meetings or have any access to anything concerning Minori’s sentencing.”

Misaki nodded and wiped at her face. She looked over at her desk. “I’ll resign, Sakura-sama. I can get my – “

“No.” Sakura grabbed her shoulders and turned her back towards her. “You don’t have to do that.”

Misaki looked at her incredulously. “My _sister_ was involved in your _assassination_. I shouldn’t be allowed – “

Sakura shook her head, her heart rate picking up. “ _No_. You are not making me look for another advisor.”

Misaki frowned at her and then said after a moment, “If the public wants me to – or the council – “

“Then, I’ll let you discuss it again.”

Misaki sighed and Sakura’s heart calmed as she nodded. “If you say so, Sakura-sama.”

“I do.” Sakura let out a breath. “Now, I want you to take the rest of the day off. I know you need it. I’ll see what I can do about you visiting with your sister.”

“I know you have no reason to” – Misaki paused as a few tears rolled down her face and she caught her breath – “so thank you.”

“You’re reason enough, Misaki-chan.”

***

A couple days later when Kakashi came by to take her out for lunch, Sakura could feel the guilt rolling off of Misaki next to her. Sakura smiled at Kakashi as his eyes went to Misaki. She was instantly out of her chair and in front of him with her head bowed. “Hatake-san, I am so sorry about – “

Kakashi interrupted her by ruffling her hair with a kind voice. “Don’t worry about it, Misaki-chan. I don’t hold you accountable for any of it.”

Misaki looked up at him hesitantly and then returned his smile as best as she could. “I would still like to offer my apologies.”

Kakashi nodded. “If you insist, then I offer my forgiveness back.”

Misaki let out a breath of relief, her smile more genuine. “Thank you.”

Kakashi jerked his head towards Sakura. “Mind if I steal her away?”

Misaki chuckled and shook her head. “Not at all. Make sure she eats well.”

Sakura watched with a smile as Kakashi squeezed Misaki’s shoulder. “Of course.”

***

Sakura put the whole thing behind her and hoped Misaki’s guilty expressions whenever she saw Kakashi would eventually lessen over time. There weren’t any cries from the public to have her fired as Sakura had expected. The only ones in the council that tried to argue for it were the elders, who relented after she and others gave Misaki a vote of confidence.

Misaki’s smiles became more genuine as the months went by, her shoulders losing their constant tension. Sakura knew it was not only because of time, but also that Minori had been sentenced to life in prison instead of death.

Life went on and they all moved on with it.


	20. A Punishment and Reward

The tap on the window woke Sakura up and she sighed as she covered Kakashi’s face with the sheet as he opened his eyes. She turned around to see an ANBU standing outside with their back to the window. Sakura rolled out of the bed, slipping Kakashi’s shirt from the floor on, knowing it would cover most of her. She went to the window, groggily rubbing at her eyes and opened it. The ANBU handed her a scroll with a bow of his head. “I’m sorry for the early hour, Hokage-sama. But I thought you would want to see this.”

Sakura took it, instantly noticing the seal on the scroll. She internally groaned. “Thank you. I’ll be at my office shortly.”

The ANBU flickered away and Sakura crawled back into the bed. She sat against the wall as Kakashi looked up at her from the pillow with a sleepy smile. Sakura stole a second to lean down and kiss him. He kissed her back and tried to keep her there with his hand on her head. Sakura laughed and grabbed his hand in hers. “Let me read this.”

Kakashi pouted but let her go and Sakura broke the seal on the scroll. She read over it and then leaned her head back against the wall with a soft thud, closing her eyes. “That bastard.”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her as she got out of the bed and started picking up her clothes. “The Daimyo sent one of his advisors for a meeting and the bastard didn’t send _any_ notice until _today_ to tell me he’ll be here _in a couple hours_.”

“Is it your _favorite_ advisor?”

Sakura sent a glare over her shoulder at him laying in the bed with the sheets pulled around his waist. She groaned. _Life was so unfair._

He chuckled. “Do you want me to scare him off?”

“Kakashi, you can’t go around threatening political advisors.” She took a step towards the bathroom and turned back thoughtfully. “But please come pick me up for dinner.”

Kakashi smiled at her. “Of course.” She looked at him longingly, wanting nothing more than to climb back into bed with him. His face turned teasing as she stood there hesitantly. “Sakura, I’ll grab you for lunch too if you stop tempting me by looking at me like you want to eat me alive.”

Sakura’s ears turned red and she left the room. “You better!”

***

Sakura and Misaki had worked all morning to gather reports and policy changes, but still hadn’t been finished by the time Sanada arrived. Sakura’s smile was sweet as he walked through the doors. “Sanada-san, if I had more notice about your visit, I would’ve sent a convoy meet you.”

He grinned at her as he bowed. “I apologize, Sakura-sama. I asked my secretary to send out a notice, she must’ve forgotten about it.” He picked up his head and winked. “Good thing I sent you an update this morning, isn’t it?”

“Yes, good thinking, Sanada-san.” Sakura hummed and gestured for him to sit in front of her. “Though, I must confess, had I been better prepared, I would’ve had more detailed reports to give you.”

He waved a hand and leaned forward. “I’m sure whatever you have will be acceptable, Sakura-sama. I will include in my report to the Lord of Fire that we failed to notify you. He’ll understand the lack of paperwork.”

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek. _Of course, he will._

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him. “Is this a routine visit? I know we were due for one soon.”

He nodded and leaned back in his chair. “I would also like to discuss the assassination attempt.”

Sakura barely hid her surprise and smiled. “I wasn’t aware the Lord of Fire had been notified of the instance. I had wanted to not cause any panic and tried to keep it inside our walls.”

“I can understand that.” He smiled and Sakura's chest felt tight in anticipation. “Though things do always have a way of making their way the Daimyo.”

“I’ll have to ask you to pass along my apologies to him. It was not meant to be kept secret for him. I simply did not want to cause him any stress or worry unnecessarily.”

Sanada raised an eyebrow at her, his smile faltering. “If there was an attempt on your life, Sakura-sama, then our Lord could be in danger. How you could not have considered this surprises me.”

“The attempt on my on life was because of personal reasons before I was Hokage, Sanada-san.” Sakura assured him. She did _not_ need this meeting going in the direction of her hiding things that could harm the Lord of Fire. “I assure you, had I any reason to think the Lord of Fire was in danger, I would’ve sent word immediately.”

Sanada was quiet for a moment as he stared at her and then he asked, not giving away what he was thinking, “What personal reasons?”

“I murdered their brother on a mission years ago. He was a bandit and his sibling was still bitter over it.”

There was a pause before Sanada nodded and had his signature smile back on his face. Sakura had to at least give him some credit when he told her sincerely, “Either way, I am sorry you had to go through that, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura forced herself to not let out a relieved breath and nodded. “Thank you, Sanada-san. If that is all you wanted to ask about it, I would appreciate it if we could drop the subject. It’s not the most pleasant memory.” 

Sanada nodded. “Of course, Sakura-sama.” He gestured to the papers in front of her. “We can move on to whatever you had planned.”

***

It wasn’t as bad as the last time, but Sanada still steered the conversation towards herself with a flirtatious smirk. Sakura fought to not check the clock, hoping Kakashi hadn't just been teasing and _would_ come get her for lunch. She also simply missed him; it felt like they barely had any time together.

Like he could read her thoughts, there was a knock on the door and the guard came inside. “Sakura-sama, you have a guest waiting for you.”

Sanada looked at her with a raised eyebrow and Sakura gave him an apologetic look, biting back her grin as she stood up from her chair. “I had previous plans for lunch before I heard of your visit, Sanada-san. Though you are welcome to join us, of course.” As much as she didn’t like him, Sakura wasn’t rude enough to leave him on his own.

He stood up and eyed the guard curiously. “Who is it?”

Sakura gave a discreet nod to the guard and he answered, “Hatake Kakashi.”

Sanada hesitated and looked back to Sakura with a calculating expression. “Old friend?”

Sakura opened her mouth to answer when Misaki walked over to him with a sweet smile. “Oh, Sanada-san, Hatake-san is more than an _old friend_ to Sakura-sama. It might be rude to intrude on their lunch. How would you like me to take you out in our Hokage's place?”

Sanada hid his surprise well and gave Misaki his charming smile. “If you don’t mind my company, Misaki-chan.” Sanada might be conniving and inappropriate at times, but Sakura had learned he didn’t lack manners and probably rarely declined women.

He winked at Sakura. “Till after lunch then, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura smiled at him with a nod and once his back was turned, she sent Misaki a grateful look. Misaki winked at her and led their esteemed advisor out of the office. Kakashi walked in a second later, the door closing behind him.

Sakura opened her arms for him dramatically, and he chuckled as he rounded the desk. He picked her up into his arms and Sakura laughed, locking her arms around his neck and kissing him through his mask.

***

They grabbed their lunch to go and settled on a thick branch to eat near the training grounds. Sakura had convinced Kakashi to eat with his mask down - so he didn’t have to eat so _fast_ and could actually enjoy his food - if there wasn’t anyone around. After they were done, Sakura laid back against his chest as he leaned against the tree trunk. She had around thirty more minutes before she was expected back at the Tower and she would enjoy every one of them.

Kakashi leaned his head against hers. “Gai gave me a challenge today.”

Sakura hummed in response. “What is it?”

“I think you’ll be more interested in what I have to do if I lose.”

Sakura lifted her head off his chest to look at him. “What do you have to do?”

“Dye my hair pink.”

Laughter bubbled in Sakura’s throat. “Whatever?”

Kakashi nodded with a tired sigh and leaned his head against the tree. “Gai thought it would be both a punishment and reward.”

Sakura laughed; her smile excited. “I agree.” More giggles spilled from her as she pictured it. “When and where is this challenge going to be and how can I sabotage it?”

“ _Sakura_!” Kakashi looked back to her with a glare but she could see his lips threatening into a smile.

“Oh, come on, Kakashi!” She gave him a teasing grin. “You should throw it.”

“No.”

“Please? For me?” Sakura pouted up at him, barely containing her laughter.

Kakashi kissed her and met her eyes as he pulled away. “Sweetheart, I would do a lot for you, but I am _not_ dying my hair _pink_.” 

Sakura sighed and moved away from him. She looked up at the sky through the leaves thoughtfully. “Okay.”

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s with that face? What’re you planning?”

Sakura leaned backwards with her hands on the bark. “I’m trying to figure out when is the best time to help Gai train.”

Kakashi shook his head at her. “Traitor.”

Sakura laughed and moved back to his lap. He turned his face as she tried to kiss him and settled for his cheek. He patted the wood beneath them and sighed dramatically. “I’ll always remember this tree as the place where the woman I love announced she’d betray me.”

“I was _joking_.” Sakura giggled and grabbed his chin to turn him back to her, capturing his lips. “I’ll always root for you with my whole heart from the sidelines.”

  
“You’re sure?” Kakashi asked against her lips. “I might look very sexy with pink hair.”

A laugh escaped her and Kakashi caught it with his mouth. She told him in between kisses. “Oh, I’m sure you would be.”

Kakashi chuckled and Sakura pulled back to tell him with a sly smile. “Plus, I know where you keep your conditioner. So, you don’t have to lose the challenge with Gai.”

Kakashi sighed, leaning back against the tree. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

But from his smile, she didn’t think he minded.


	21. A Sign

Sakura couldn’t help her excitement as Naruto sat down across from her. “The new school opens tomorrow. Isn’t that great?”

Naruto laughed. “Yeah, Sakura-chan, that’s fantastic. All your hard work is paying off.”

“Not just _my_ hard work,” Sakura chided him. So many people had been crucial to this project getting off the ground and Sakura wouldn't take all the credit for it. 

Naruto didn’t argue, unusually quiet. Sakura eyed him, a little worried. “Something wrong?”

Naruto shook his head and then leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together. “I wanted to talk to you about something in a professional sense, Sakura-sama.”

Sakura nodded and crossed her arms on her desk, leaning forward. “What is it, Uzumaki-san?”

Naruto instantly grimaced. “Okay, not _that_ professional.”

Sakura chuckled and smiled. “What is it, Naruto?”

Naruto let out a breath and said simply, “The village needs an orphanage.”

Sakura nodded, not surprised Naruto had been the one to bring this up. It’d been in the back of her mind for some time, but she hadn’t gotten around to doing anything about it. “It does.”

“There’s a small one for civilian children.” Naruto looked down, his eyes fixing on a stack of papers on her desk. ”But not one for shinobi children. I don’t know if it needs to be a separate one. But what we do now is cruel, Sakura.” His eyes went back to hers. “Just look at me, or Sasuke, or Kakashi even. Shinobi children are just _expected_ to live on by themselves if their parents die. It’s ridiculous!”

Sakura leaned back in her chair with a sad smile. “It is, Naruto. I don’t like it either.” She looked to the side in thought and then back to him. “I’m not really involved in what we do with orphans. There’s a sub department in Education that handles it. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I don’t know a lot of the details.”

Naruto shook his head with easy forgiveness. “I can’t speak for others but I’m sure it's along the same lines. I was set up in an apartment to live by myself. I don’t remember much from when I was very young, but I have faint memories of a nanny or someone taking care of me. But by the time I was in the Academy, I was alone.”

Sakura felt old cracks in her heart ache. “How could you afford anything?”

“Allowances from the Sandaime.” He leaned back and his eyes went to the side, seeing something that wasn’t there. He shook a memory away and looked back to her. “It wasn’t always enough.”

Sakura let out a breath and nodded. “So, an orphanage then.”

Naruto nodded; his face hopeful as he met her eyes. “Yes.”

Sakura thought for a moment. “Okay, I think it would be best to not have them separate. It would only create good relations with civilians if our children grew up together.”

Naruto grinned, a sparkle in his eyes. “So, then, you’re really going to do it?”

Sakura smiled. “ _We’re_ going to do it, Naruto.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her, and she leaned forward across her desk. “I want you to be lead on this project.”

Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head. “Sakura-chan, I’m not really the best at –“

Sakura shook her head. “No, I have all the faith in you, Naruto. I want you to be with me on this, making decisions and plans, whatever needs to be done to get this off the ground.”

Naruto’s face darkened and he had an embarrassed smile. “If you’ll have me then – “

Sakura slammed a hand down on her desk with an excited grin. “Then, let’s get started.”

Naruto’s expression turned determined as he grinned, and they began.

***

“Will you _ever_ stop?” Kakashi walked into her office with a tried sigh.

Sakura barely had time to look up at him rolling her eyes before he had rounded her desk, turned her chair, and picked her up in his arms like she was a disobedient child. She slapped at his arms, trying to wiggle free. “ _Kakashi_! What’re you doing? Put me _down_!”

“No.” Kakashi turned and started walking towards the door. Sakura felt embarrassment rise in her chest. “Kakashi, I’ll go home! Let me down!”

Kakashi’s feet stopped by the door and he looked down at her with a cocked eyebrow. “You promise? Because I will carry you all the way to your apartment if you try and go back to your desk.”

Sakura’s cheeks turned red and she nodded, hitting him in the chest. “Yes, I promise! My people don’t need to see a blushing Hokage being carried through the streets!”

Kakashi bit back a smile and let her go to her feet. Sakura huffed at him and crossed her arms with a glare. “What has gotten into you?”

“What has gotten into _me_?” Kakashi gestured to the window and Sakura’s lips parted as she noticed the sun had already fell, the sky dark. “Sakura, it is nearing _two in the morning_.”

Sakura chuckled embarrassed and looked back to Kakashi. “I may not have… realized that.”

Kakashi sighed and rubbed the spot in between his eyebrows, closing his eyes. “This is like the third time this week. You really would never leave if you didn’t have Misaki to force you to go home, would you?”

Sakura huffed offended. “Hey, that’s not – “

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her and Sakura deflated. “Well, I just got _distracted_ and Misaki usually pulls me out of that.”

Kakashi grabbed her hand and pulled her through the door. “I can’t wait for Misaki to come back home from that diplomatic mission.”

Sakura rolled her eyes but let Kakashi lead her out of the building. She leaned against him once they were in the street under the moonlight. “I’m sorry, Kakashi.”

He sighed and looked down at her, then let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. “You need to look after yourself, too, Sakura, not just the village. What good are you doing anyone if you pass out from exhaustion?”

Sakura sighed, properly scolded. “I know. I’ll be better about it, Kakashi.” She looked at him and leaned up.

Kakashi smiled before closing the distance to kiss her. “You better,” he mumbled against her lips.

Kakashi made her something to eat since she had skipped dinner – much to his annoyance – and Sakura ate with a small smile. She felt guilty about stressing him out so much, but it was nice to be taken care of.

He prodded her towards the bed afterwards and Sakura pulled him in with her not even bothering to change her clothes, the exhaustion from the day finally catching up to her. Kakashi had a soft smile as he discarded his jacket and headband before laying down with her. Sakura cuddled against him as he pressed a kiss to her forehead over her purple diamond. She told him sleepily, “I love you.”

She heard his smooth voice reply as she fell asleep, “I love you, too.”

***

Sakura couldn’t say she was surprised but she was still disappointed as she looked at the elders across from her.

“Sakura-sama, I cannot understand why you are so upset about this,” Utatane scoffed at her and even Sakura could feel the glare Misaki was shooting at the old woman from the other side of the room.

Sakura huffed back at her, her pen clattering to the desk as she almost threw it. “You’ve been going around my back and sending classified information to the Daimyo! How did you _think_ I would feel about it?”

“Hokage-sama, it is not as malicious as you are – “ Mitokado started, taken aback by her anger since she had always kept herself so composed.

“You did not _trust_ me, Mitokado, that is what is _clear_ here.” Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. “ _I_ am the Hokage and it is my duty and my duty _alone_ to keep in correspondence with the Lord of Fire. Not either of _you_. I am the one who makes the decisions about the information he needs to be receiving.”

“We were concerned, Hokage – “

“I don’t give a damn what you were.” Sakura shook her head, interrupting Utatane’s defense. The woman looked at her in surprise. “You had the opportunity to speak with me yourself, but you instead jumped over my head without airing _any_ concerns you had to me first. If I cannot trust you to trust _me_ , then there is no benefit to having you on my council. I will not have people I don’t trust having access to confidential information and being involved in political decisions that affect an entire nation.”

“You cannot be serious!” Mitokado stood up from his chair and Sakura raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him.

“I am dead serious. You directly defied my orders. If I wanted, I could have you tried for treason.” Sakura waved a hand at him. “Do you want to continue acting like a brat and try me, Mitokado?”

Mitokado’s skin flamed red and he sat back down. Utatane tried for a smile. “Hokage-sama, I hardly think any of this is necessary. You had never said to _not_ tell the Daimyo about the assassination attempt. We were just doing what we – “

“Thought was best for the village?” Sakura rolled her eyes and shook her head. “It is _my_ decision to decide what that entails. I believe my exact words during that meeting were that the whole instance needed to be kept in Konoha walls. What would you have done, Utatane? If the Daimyo had suspected I withheld this information in hopes he would be unprepared for an assassination of his own? His advisor certainly was starting to suspect it. What if he tried me for treason? What if this had started a political war? All because _you_ think you’re high enough on the ladder to make decisions bigger than yourselves.”

Mitokado opened his mouth and Sakura didn’t let him talk. “No, I will not hear anymore. I know this was not the first time you have corresponded with our Daimyo without my knowledge. I cannot trust you to work under me and follow my leadership. You are relieved of your duties as councilmen. Get out of my office.”

The guards that had stepped inside during the meeting opened the doors and Sakura looked to the window as the elders left the seats before they were escorted out. Once the doors closed, Sakura leaned her head back against her chair and sighed, closing her eyes.

Misaki asked her, a clear smile in her voice, “Shall I make us some tea, Sakura-sama?”

Sakura laughed. “Yes, Misaki-chan.”

***

Sakura handed Naruto the shovel with a wide smile. He grabbed it with a smile of his own, and she didn’t comment on the tears in his eyes as he dug into the ground, cheers erupting behind them. She turned to their small crowd with a grin and yelled out, “Now that we’ve broken ground on the new orphanage, let’s get started, shall we?”

Noise rose in the air as people ran about the budding construction site. They’d decided to build a new orphanage instead of adding onto the civilian one. It would be much bigger, and the civilians needed a new one anyway since the orphanage had been one of the buildings to survive the Pain attack. It was old and rotted. They had moved everyone to temporary housing last week and torn down the orphanage in the meantime. Sakura was excited about it but not as much as Naruto, who had been in her office almost nonstop over the last few months. They had created a new department for Family Care that would stand alone outside of Education and Medical. Sakura picked people from both departments that were happy to move, Naruto easily stepping into one of the seats as he took lead on the project.

She was so proud of how Naruto had flourished with the orphanage in his loving hands. Sakura had no doubt about the success of it without even looking at the plans. Naruto’s policies had been messy and hard to read at times, his papers filled with her red ink. But they were also the most thought out plans and she could see the care he had taken into writing them.

She’d of course gotten the consent of the whole department of Family Care, but no one had even hesitated before giving her the go ahead. They all knew how much he deserved it and Sakura felt excitement climbing up her throat as she grabbed Naruto’s hand. He looked at her in question and Sakura dragged him over to the edge of the construction site.

Sakura gestured to the piles of materials in front of them. “This is everything we had picked out for the building.”

“That’s great, Sakura-chan.” Naruto smiled but was looking at her a little confused, probably wondering why she felt the need to show him when they hadn’t even laid the foundation yet.

She pulled him towards something large near the back. “There was something I picked out that I wanted to show you.”

“Sakura, I’m sure whatever – “ Naruto’s voice cut off as they moved to the front of the large sign.

_The Uzumaki Orphanage_

Naruto covered his mouth with his hand as he looked at her. “Sakura, I don’t – you didn’t – “

Sakura squeezed the hand that was still in hers. “This was your idea, Naruto. I’ve watched you work so hard to make something beautiful for these children. I wanted to at least give you this.”

Naruto’s hands covered his face as he breathed in, tears rolling down his face. He looked back to the sign and then pulled her into his arms. He held her tightly, burying his face in her neck, his face wet against her robes. “We'll make it the best damn orphanage anyone's ever seen.”

Sakura laughed and hugged him back, her hand going through his hair. "You bet your ass we will."

***

Naruto leaned against her side as they took a break from working on the orphanage, leaning against a half-built wall with drinks in their hands. They were quiet for a moment and then Naruto asked her, “So, you’re enjoying being Hokage?”

“Yes.” Sakura felt herself smile, the answer coming easier to her than it would’ve that first month. She noticed the weight she had been carrying on her shoulders had fallen off a long time ago without her realizing.

Naruto chuckled. “Good.” 

Sakura leaned her head on his shoulder. “You ever regret giving it up?”

“No.” Naruto took a drink from his bottle. “I had wanted to be Hokage for the wrong reasons. All I ever wanted was to be loved and I don’t need to be a leader to have that.”

Sakura patted his thigh with her hand with a smile. “No, you don’t.”

Naruto leaned his head back against the wall behind them, looking up at the clear sky. “After growing up the way I did, I think I just want to have a family. That’s really what my dream’s always been underneath.”

“You know, even now – before you have a wife and kids and the whole shebang – you already have that. You know that, right? With us, we’re your family.” Sakura pulled away from him to give him a smile.

Naruto returned her smile, pulling her into a hug. “Yeah, I know.”


	22. Really

Sakura probably should’ve asked it a little more delicately.

“Kakashi, do you want to have kids?” Sakura blurted out as she stood at the stove, stirring soup for the third time in a minute. It’d been on her mind since her conversation with Naruto at the orphanage a week ago and she just had to ask. It had been gnawing at her nerves for days.

She could practically hear how Kakashi stilled behind her. He was quiet for a moment, making her heart beat painfully against her chest. Then, he answered her quietly, “No, I don’t, Sakura.”

Sakura let out a breath, the relief that flooded through her was almost overwhelming. Before she could reply, Kakashi was at her side with a hand on her waist and turning her towards him. His smile was a mix of pained and apologetic. “Sakura, I don’t want to lie to you – “

“Then, don't. I want you to always be honest with me.” 

His eyes searched hers, his voice going soft as he brought up a hand to hold her face. "The kind of life I lead… I’ve never thought about having children. There's times, I can barely take care of myself. I don't - I'm not cut out to be a father. I've never wanted to be one either. It's just always been something I've accepted.”

Sakura nodded, her hand coming up to cover his. She realized she hadn’t shared her own thoughts out loud as he cleared his throat and told her in a thick voice, “Sakura, I can’t - I can't give you that. If that’s what you want, then – “

“No, no, no,” Sakura interrupted him before he could finish such a heartbreaking sentence. She grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together, meeting his eyes seriously, “I don’t want children either.”

She could see the battle in his eyes, but something eventually won out and he told her, “Sakura, don’t do that for me. If you're giving it up or -”

She shook her head. “I’m not. I don’t – I can barely make time for _you_ , what kind of mother would I be if I was never around?”

His smile was sad as his voice went quiet. “You may feel differently when you resign.”

“I won’t.” Sakura sighed, her other hand coming up to rest on his chest. She looked down in thought. “I’ve never liked the idea of it. Not to say that I would _ever_ judge a woman who does. I just – I don’t think that’s for me. I never have.”

Kakashi let out a breath and his head fell against hers. Sakura pulled him to her, kissing his shoulder. “I had to ask, Kakashi. I’m sorry if I freaked you out.”

  
“It’s okay.” He chuckled and kissed her forehead. “We had to talk about it at some point.”

Sakura smiled, her worries finally at ease. She turned back to their dinner on the stove, one of her hands still holding onto Kakashi. “Come on and help me before I burn it again.”

Kakashi chuckled. “It will always amaze me at how bad you are at this.”

Sakura elbowed him in the ribs, and he laughed. “Shut up.”

***

Sakura sighed contently as she laid against Kakashi’s chest on the couch, his fingers combing through her hair. “You know all my projects seem to be tying up at the same time. I feel like my office is going to become incredibly boring.”

Kakashi laughed and she smiled at how she could feel the sound vibrate in his chest. “Leave it to you to complain about not being overloaded with work, my little workaholic.”

“Oh, shut up.” Sakura rolled her eyes and then told him, “I have been researching a new medical jutsu, though. I think I'll spend my new free time looking more into it.”

“Oh?”

Sakura picked her head up to look at him with a bit of excitement. “It would be able to reattach limbs. Of course, it would have to be done quickly after they were lost, and the limbs would still have to be in good condition. But I think it could still be beneficial.”

Kakashi smiled at her warmly. “That’s pretty amazing, Sakura.”

Sakura blushed and laid her head back down, her fingers playing with some loose threads from his shirt. “Well, I haven’t figured it out yet. It also would be difficult to test. I’d have to have a body to practice on.”

“You can practice on me,” Kakashi told her as casual as someone would offer to do the dishes.

Sakura laughed and glanced up at him. “I meant a _dead_ body, Kakashi. You’d have to have a lost limb to be of any use.”

Kakashi shrugged, mirth dancing in his eyes. “You can cut off one of my limbs.”

Sakura shook her head at him with a growing smile, laughter still on her lips. “You’re _insane_.”

“Mah, I was going more along the lines of _devoted_ or _loyal_ or –“

Sakura interrupted him with a kiss and repeated with a giggle, “ _Insane_.”

***

They had finished their training a long time ago but hadn’t made any move to leave the field, laying contently on the grass with Sakura’s head on Kakashi’s stomach. Soft conversation filled the air as they looked up at the clouds rolling by in the sky. Kakashi had a hand on her stomach where her shirt rode up, his thumb stroking at the warm skin there. Sakura laid her hand on his arm, playing with the plates on his gloves.

“I realized the other day ago that it’s almost been a year since you became Hokage.” Kakashi broke the content silence they’d slipped into.

“Yeah, just a few more weeks to go.” Sakura sighed. It was kind of crazy to think about it. The year had gone by so fast, but it’d also felt like she’d been doing this for years already.

Kakashi asked her after a moment, a little hesitant, “Do you understand why you said yes now?”

“I just wanted…” Sakura thought about how to put it into words, having mainly carried on with a feeling. “I wanted to do it for me. It wasn’t about proving anything to anyone like I know some people think. But I just – I had never thought about it before. Never saw it as an option, it had always been Naruto’s dream. And it wasn’t like – you and I both know I didn’t have the greatest confidence as a kid. I never thought I _could_ do it. Haruno Sakura considered the strongest in the village? I would’ve laughed if you told me that when I was twelve. And I’m not saying I _am_. I know I’m not, but I am pretty damn close, and I needed to accept that.

“When Tsunade asked me, I laughed at her. I don’t know if she ever told you, but I did. It was so ridiculous to me. I thought she was being so _unfair_ , so _cruel_ to ask me like I was the second choice, _always_ the second choice. But she – she told me she thought I would be a _great_ Hokage, Kakashi. And I could tell she believed it with the unshed tears in her eyes and it just made me…” Sakura’s voice went softer as her chest tightened, but she knew Kakashi could still hear her. “And I was just filled with this _feeling_ that I could be, that I _would_ be. And I wanted it in that moment, I wanted it so bad. It scared the hell out of me, but I wanted to try. I wanted to do it even if it made me nervous, even if people were expecting it to be Naruto. I wanted to be a great Hokage. I wanted to do it for our village, for the people I love, for _myself_. I wanted to be a _great_ Hokage because I knew I could. I just had to try.

“I had to do it for myself. To prove that I could and convince that last part of me, that part that’s still that scared little girl who thought she would always be weak. I wanted to show her what we had become, what we could do.” Sakura let out a shaky breath as she finished but had a smile on her face.

A moment passed where the only sounds were the sounds of birds in the trees and the distant sounds of blades crossing in another training ground. Then, Kakashi told her just as quiet, “I think that part of you, the twelve-year-old Sakura – after she got over her surprise and laughter – I think she would be proud of you, of the woman you’ve become. I don’t think I have any right to say I’m proud of you, though I know I have and _am_. But I was a horrible sensei to you, so I’ll leave that honor to Tsunade. But I am in _awe_ of you, Sakura, and as I told you months ago, I think you’ll always continue to amaze me. With how you push yourself, with everything you set your mind to, the amount of emotion you can handle, how you’re not broken from war. With everything you do, the love in your laughter and the kindness in your smile. It will all – just always amaze me. I already think you're a great Hokage and I know you're just going to become an _amazing_ one in time.”

Sakura felt tears prickle at her eyes and she moved to lean over him. She tugged his mask down below his chin as he looked up at her with that loving smile of his. Her throat felt thick as she smiled, holding his face in her hand. “I love you so much. You know that? Like do you _really_ understand how much you mean to me?” He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her down to kiss him. But she continued to pour out words across his lips. “How I relax when you walk into a room. How you’ve always been there, a shoulder to lean on and an ear to listen to all the stupid things I worry about. A hand to push me forward and arms to fall in to when I can’t go on anymore. How I feel so loved just by the touch of your hand. I love you _so much_.”

Kakashi laughed lightly, but Sakura didn’t hear any humor in it, just happiness. He kissed her harder this time, his grip on her tightening. He replied to her, “So much, Sakura, _so much_.” 

***

“So, even a year later, you’re still being a wallflower?”

Sakura turned to see Kakashi coming up beside her. His smile and eyes different from a year ago, his love for her less concealed. But it also felt the same and oddly reminiscent as he leaned against the wall next to her.

Sakura chuckled and stepped closer to him. “I just got a little overwhelmed from all the socializing. I’ll go and mingle again in a few minutes.”

He’d stayed by her side most of the party but at some point Gai had pulled him away and Sakura was left to her own devices. It had been Naruto’s idea to throw her a party on the anniversary of her inauguration. She hadn’t minded even though after so many hours of being surrounded by people she felt drained, especially being the center of attention. But she did enjoy it, if only for the love she felt by the people around her.

There was a hand at her waist and Kakashi pulled her closer to him. “Mah, I’ll never complain about having you all to myself.”

“Oh really?” Sakura smiled up at him, her fingers trailing up his neck to his mask.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her as her fingers hooked under his mask. She grabbed her hat off her head and held it up to cover their faces. Kakashi chuckled at her as she pulled his mask down and met her lips halfway.

Sakura knew she could spend the rest of her life kissing Kakashi. With the mask between them, with his bare lips, between sheets, or hidden behind her hat. She didn’t care as long as they never stopped. She never knew she could feel so connected to a person without speaking. But she did with him; with every brush of his lips, how she could taste his smile, how he seemed to pour everything he felt for her into each kiss. It amazed her how they could all feel so different, each kiss. From his _good morning_ kisses to his _I missed you_ kisses. She’d never tire of them and wanted to experience every possible kiss with him. She hoped he could feel how much she loved him from her lips because she certainly could from his.

She pulled away from him, tugging his mask back up as she went. His gaze was warm as he met her eyes and he answered softly, “Really.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who's stayed with me throughout this story. It meant a lot to me and I couldn't even begin to tell you why. So, just thank you all so much for reading.


End file.
